Seinäjoki in Brief

Seinäjoki is a youthful city with a young population, since the area provides a lot of secondary and higher level education. Also the full cultural spectrum is highlighted in Seinäjoki: theatre, concerts, plays. There are a lot of cultural and sports events going on in Seinäjoki with the idea of: something for everyone.

Seinäjoki Science Park- TRIANO- is the rapidly growing centre for the development of South Ostrobothnia and a node in networks. Its physical core is made up of three complexes of buildings: the Foodwest building in the northern part of the city, the Mediwest Health Technology Centre next to the Seinäjoki Central Hospital, as well as the FRAMI Technology Centre including Business Park on the river bank opposite the Campus Area.

The easiest way of finding out about the history of Seinäjoki and our region is to visit the Regional Museum of South Ostrobothnia, in Törnävä. Among other things, traditional peasant and popular life is exhibited in the museum. In the area, you can visit the Peasant Museum, the Gunpowder Museum (“Ruutimuseo”), an old windmill, a blacksmith’s shop and many other interesting historical buildings. The Törnävänpuisto park, which surrounds the museum area, is beautiful throughout the year. There is also a nice beach in the park area.

South Ostrobothnia is the region where the world-famous architect Alvar Aalto was born and spent the early years of his life. Seinäjoki is famous for the church of Lakeuden Risti designed by Aalto and for the administrative and cultural centre built around it. This area, the Aalto Centre, was built between 1957 and 1987. As a whole, the Aalto Centre is an internationally renowned destination for visiting architects and other experts in the field of construction.

The most important event in Seinäjoki for young people is the three-day-long rock festival Provinssirock in June. The festival is attended by several international and Finnish top artists and there are always about 20 000 people enjoying the music and atmosphere. Provinssirock takes place in the park area in Törnävä.

In turn, the tango festival Tangomarkkinat, is in July. At the festival, the King and Queen of Tango for the year are crowned after a hard trial. For this five-day-long event, part of the Kirkkokatu street is turned into a tango street, in which people dance night and day. The number of visitors is evidence of the importance of tango for the Finns. The event gathers as many as 100,000 people to Seinäjoki.

Seinäjoki has been named after the river passing through the city. A cruise on the river provides a unique way to get to know the city and to view the riverside scenery.

About 85 per cent of the Finnish citizens belong to the Lutheran church and therefore there is one in Seinäjoki, too. In Seinäjoki, there are two churches, of which the Törnävä church, erected in 1827, is of historical value. The Lakeuden Risti church (’Cross of the Plains’) was erected in 1960.