This summer, the Sauna Heating World Championship can be viewed online for the first time ever. The Sauna Heating World Championship takes place at Peurunka, Laukaa, on the 3rd of July. Apart from the traditional event, it can be watched in a free-two hours live stream. The competition, organized this year for the fifth time, is accompanied by a host of interesting comments, including the latest news from the summer’s Sauna Region Week.
Those watching the live stream will also get a peek at the SaunaPark area close to the competition venue and the selection of saunas it offers. The competition has aroused international interest, with teams arriving as far as Japan to compete in previous years. Due to the travel restrictions in place owing to the coronavirus epidemic, the access of travellers to Peurunka this year is more limited, and our live stream aims to give people the chance to participate no matter where they are,
says Event Producer Tiina Ruotsalainen from Ext Ventures Oy.
The Sauna Heating World Championship is an engaging and fun-filled contest with a warm heart. The competing teams aim to heat up a Savotta sauna tent up to the target temperature as quickly as possible. At the end of the day, a finals round will determine the overall winner. Teams are encouraged to dress to amuse, with the best outfits awarded as well. In addition to the competition and SaunaPark, the event also has other things to do for the whole family.
Registrations are already heating up! You can also come to the event just to be there to cheer on the teams and enjoy the summer day on the shore of Lake Peurunkajärvi. SaunaPark, located in the immediate vicinity of the competition venue, offers the opportunity for a relaxing bath in the beautiful lakeside surroundings. This summer, the saunas in the park are themed, making the sauna experience even more special.
A traditional lakeshore sauna, a smoke sauna, and a Sauna Bus are all open in the area. The competition event is free of charge, with a small fee collected for a ticket to the SaunaPark area.
There is a major interest in the Finnish sauna abroad, and this is a great opportunity for the fans to experience the special ambience of sauna even during the pandemic. All around the world, sauna searches rank high among internet searches on travel to Finland. Here in the Sauna Region, too, the demand for sauna experiences is clearly on the rise among tour operators and the media with a view to plans for the near future,
says Tuomas Paloniemi, Project Coordinator from Visit Jyväskylä Region.
The Sauna Region Week offers plenty of other things to see
This summer, the Sauna Region Week encompasses about forty different events. The festival usually takes place in late June and early July. Its program features a multitude of different types of saunas, including smoke saunas, lakeside saunas and a public sauna, and there is also a package combining a sauna evening and a lake cruise. Visitors can moreover choose from a variety of luxury treatments in the sauna and examine the world’s largest collection of Finnish smoke saunas.
The Sauna Village, located in Jämsä on the shores of Lake Päijänne, is a journey into the century-long history and genuine sauna experience only Finnish saunas can offer. The Week’s program also includes, for instance, a new kind of cruise and sauna day experience offered by Päijänne-Risteilyt Hilden and Savutuvan apaja. Smoke saunas take bookings in the Varjola resort all week, and the new urban public sauna in Kangas also participates. The Sauna Trail at Revontuli resort allows you to visit three different saunas at once along with a guided stretching session,
says Paloniemi.
This year, the fifth edition of the Sauna Region Week will also broaden its program to include discussions on topical societal issues. Organized in collaboration with the summertime Jyväskylän Kesä Festival, a new event, called “Lauteilla – On the sauna benches”, will give a kick-start to a wider offering on sauna discussions planned for summer 2022. The topic of the event on July 1st this year will be sustainability, and it can be attended both live and online.
In addition, the week includes many options to try out other specialties, such as the peat sauna spa at the world’s largest smoke sauna in Tupaswilla, or the smoke sauna shindo at the Kinkamon pirtti cottages. The traditional sauna at Nukula is warmed up, and a lovely sauna evening with herbal foot baths is available at Karkausmäen Kammari. Finally, the Poverty Village outdoor museum at Sumiainen may also feature the mobile sauna, the Saunawagen
says Paloniemi.
In 2015, the Province of Central Finland declared itself the Sauna Region of the World. The Sauna Region Week will take place from 26 June to 3 July 2021. See the whole program at: https://visitjyvaskyla.fi/en/sauna/saunaregionweek/
More information about the Sauna Heating World Championship and registration to participate: https://www.saunamm.fi. The event is organized by Ext Ventures Oy.
For more information:
Visit Jyväskylä Region sauna website: https://visitjyvaskyla.fi/en/sauna/
Tuomas Paloniemi | Project Coordinator, Visit Jyväskylä Region | [email protected] | +358 50 475 3752 | visitjyvaskyla.fi
Tiina Ruotsalainen | Event Producer, EXT Ventures Ltd | [email protected] | +0400603638 | https://saunamm.fi/english/
Photos: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13MY_oURt91eVUAANwNi8zWu83_OGZUIw?usp=sharing Photos must be credited to the photographer and to their owner, Visit Jyväskylä Region.