Events in Varkaus

Talvi-Vekara brings a full range of winter activities and programmes for week 10, from young to old. The children's winter week of events includes exploring treasure maps and discovery trips to the local environment and imaginative expeditions to the oceans, jungles and foreign cultures.

• Go here to the Vekara-Varkaus website

Ne naiset, ne naiset! - a captivating concert at the Varkauden Teatteri (Laivalinnankatu 29) on Thursday 20 March 2025 from 18.00.

Singers of different genres Marjatta Airas and Eilamaria Leskinen and improvising pianist Petri Herranen will transport you to an emotional world of music. The repertoire includes Tuli mies, Elämäni on lauluni, Cherbourgin sateenvarjot, Itke en lemmen tähden, Memory, Warum - Oi Miks´.... Eilamaria first became familiar with Varkauden teatteri years ago, when she played the role of Valencienne in the operetta Iloinen leski.

Tickets 20€ cash. Ticket sales open 1 hour before the concert.

Vekara-Varkaus Festival Week has been delighting children during the week 24 in June since 1995. One of the oldest and largest children's cultural festivals in Finland, it is one of the most anticipated weeks for children in Varkaus. During the festival week, the city fills with a joyful buzz and festival visitors from all over Finland arrive in Varkaus. For families with children, there is plenty to do and experience on each festival day.

Next summer, the Vekara-Varkaus Festival Week will be celebrated from 9 to 15 June 2025. During school holiday week 10 Talvi-Vekara and week 42 Syys-Vekara, the programme for children, young people and families in Varkaus will be presented. The weeks of events offer performances, workshops, outdoor activities and sports in a varied and affordable way.

• Go here to the Vekata-Varkaus website

Syys-Vekara will take place during Autumn Holiday Week 42, offers a mix of performances, workshops, outdoor activities and the joy of exercise. Most of the fun can be experienced for a small fee or for free.

• Go here to the Vekara-Varkaus website

Warkaus Rock is back for the fourth time. The whole family music event at Taideniity offers everything from melodic pop to heavy rock. Free entry!

• Go here to the Taideniity website

Pirtinvirran puistojuhlat is a new summer festival that brings the best of Finnish rock and taste to Itsenäisyydenpuisto on the second weekend in August. The two-day event will feature performances by Neljä Ruusua, A.W. Yrjänä, Janna, Herra Ylppö. Jarkko Martikainen, Staffan & CO, Pop-up Bilebänd and Amber Shadows. The evening will be crowned by a food stall to pamper your taste buds.

• Go here to the Pirtinvirran puistojuhlat website

The slopes of Vattuvuori invite you to a winter experience of a different kind on Saturday 8.3.2025 at 16-22 (Pujottelutie 53, 78210 Varkaus). There will be a varied programme for all ages - glow skiing, children's downhill skiing, sausage baking, winter races with snowshoes and of course downhill skiing. Weather permitting.

• Go here to Vattuvuoren Talvirieha website

For the second time, the Loma Savo fair will bring together local residents, leisure time residents and tourism service providers from Central Savonia and the surrounding areas. The fair will take place in Warkaus Hall on Saturday 26 April from 10.00 to 16.00

Loma Savossa will give you the opportunity to get to know the operators in the region and to discover new experiences. How about canoeing, horse riding or relaxing? How about theatre, museums and art? You'll also find the best restaurants and accommodation in the region. The event is free of charge.

• Go here to the Loma Savo website

Maista Varkaus food event serves the best flavours of Savonia and Saimaa at Päiviönsaaren tori on Saturday 26 April from 10.00 to 16.00. Local producers created small but tasty slider dishes for a small amount of money.

• Go here to the Maista Varkaus event website

Good mood event week highlights the link between mental health and the arts through a variety of activities, events and fun get-togethers. Throughout the week, Varkaus will be hosting an interesting, free and open to all, programme of good-minded events. The main event of the week is the Hyvänmielenosoitus, which will take place on Thursday 22 May 2025 from 18.00.

The Good mood event week is part of the nationwide Mental Health Art Week, coordinated in Finland by MIELI ry. In Finland, the theme of the event in 2025 is "One step at a time". 
 

• Go here to the Mental Health Art Week website

Come and experience life, enjoy music and good food, do some shopping and meet friends and acquaintances at the Kesäkatuilta! Kauppakatu will be transformed into a pedestrian street for the duration of the event, with local businesses keeping their doors open and vendors and stalls spread out around the event area.

The city-wide summer event is held on the Kauppakatu twice a year on 12 June and 7 August.

• Go here to the Varkauden kesäkatuiltojen website

Varkaus-päivät is a city event in its own right, held annually in the second week of September. Varkaus-päivät is part of the European Heritage Days.

Programme of Varkaus-päivät is organised by local actors, and there is plenty to do for children, young people and adults alike.

• Go to the Varkaus-päivät programme here

Warkaus-Sali is a versatile events and music venue that hosts concerts, shows, parties and meetings all year round. The Estrad hosts the best of the local scene as well as some of Finland's brightest stars.

The full-service event house is located in Old Varkaus under the same roof as Hotel Oscar. Oscar's House is also located at the same address, and its autumn season is packed with events.

• Go here to the Warkaus-sali website
• Go here to the Oscar's House website

Periodic exhibitions:

Teollisuuden tekijät
History of the industrial community and knowledge in the region of Varkaus.
From 27 April 2024

Rakelin salonki
Rakel Kansanen's collection from the early 20th century. In the salon, decorated in the spirit of the 1920s, you can sit down with art books and enjoy works of art by Ilmari Aalto and Tyko Sallinen, for example.
From 27 April 2024

Lasten tehdas
A hands-on exhibition for children about Varkaus industry.
From 27 April 2024

Temporary exhibitions:


Dynamis - Lars Holmström
Lars Holmström (b. 1949), who spent his childhood in Varkaus, will present a retrospective of the best visual pieces from Holmström's donated collection in the Konsti´s temporary art exhibition space. But there will also be something new, as the artist is still actively working. What does the name Dynamis mean?
From 13 April to 31 August 2025

Marraskuun Vorssi - Anton Lindforss
An exhibition of paintings by Anton Lindforss (1890-1943), with works from the Rakel Kansanen collection at its heart. The collection is complemented by paintings on loan from various museums. The main focus of the exhibition is on Lindforss's self-portraits and landscapes from the November Group, but there are also still lifes and portraits. 
From 12 September 2025 to April 2026

Urkujoki - Johanna Väisänen
Kuopio-based Johanna Väisänen (b. 1972) is a visual artist who uses sound, video and photography in her work. In her installation Urkujoki, Väisänen transports organ drums along the Finnish national landscape. The work is born from personal experience as the daughter of a primary school teacher and is movingly suited to the setting of the Tehtaan School. 
From 13 April 2025 to 31 August 2025

в дорозі - Matkalla
Ukrainians in Varkaus
The exhibition is based on a contemporary documentation project carried out in cooperation with Ukrainians who have settled in Varkaus and the City of Varkaus Immigration Services. The exhibition explores the Ukrainians' art, memories, war, new life situation, hopes - in short, all aspects of humanity. 
From 13 September 2025 to 31 March 2026

Palomiehistä pelastajiin
Teollisuuden tekijät / Changing Section 
The exhibition dives into the history of the biggest fires in Varkaus and the people who put them out. The exhibition explores the equipment and clothing used over more than a hundred years. The exhibition also explores the biggest fires in Varkaus, from the Koivula fire to the paper warehouse arson. 
From 13 April 2025 to 6 January 2026

The exhibitions are free of charge.
Varkaus Museum Centre Konsti
Tehtaan koulu
Satakunnankatu 1
78300 Varkaus

Varkaus Museum Centre Konsti online exhibitions
 

• Go here to the Museum Centre Konsti website

Via Canalia
From 1 June 2025 to 31 August 2025 
The canal museum's main exhibition Via Canalia tells about the history of canal building in North Savonia, canal management and maintenance, and water traffic. The exhibition includes a model of the Taipale canal area from 1905 and old canal tower equipment.

The exhibitions are free of charge. 
Taipale Canal Museum 
Kanavakatu, Varkaus 
Tel. 044 444 2366

• Go here to the Taipale Canal Museum website

Varkaudesta Berliiniin
From 29 January to 16 February 2025

Pirjo Hassinen - Viivoja ja väriä
From 4 March to 23 March 2025

• Go here to the AVA galleria website

Tämä hetki
Auli Korhonen, Anja Snellman, Jonna Vinha
From 3 to 27 February 2025
 

Art Centre Taidekeskus Väinölä
Ahlströminkatu 8-10 (gps Matintori 6), Varkaus
Tel. 0400 487 401

• Go here to the website of Art Centre Taidekeskus Väinölä

Galleria Taideniitty
Kissakoskenkatu 6, Varkaus

• Go here to the Taideniitty website