Kristiinankatu becomes a lively summer street in July–August

The Kristiinankatu Summer Street 2021 is a temporary experiment aimed at improving the conditions for walking, making the urban space more inviting and increasing the attractiveness of the city centre. The summer street is a part of the programme for the tenth anniversary of Turku’s year as the European Capital of Culture, which is reflected in the playful and colourful appearance of the street.

- The anniversary is embodied in, for example, the almost 30 orange planting barrels to be placed on the summer street. Rustic materials, such as a rusty vertical garden and concrete benches, are also part of the summer street look, says Landscape Architect Marie Nyman.

- Children and others young at heart can take part in the Find Leppis the Ladybug game, in which they can look for ladybirds hiding along the summer street, Nyman says.

Markets and events

In the summer, a wide range of activities will be organised on the summer street. The summer street is also a platform for ideas created in the Ignite Turku development competition for the city centre, such as the Event Carpet and the summer market for young entrepreneurs.

The Event Carpet on Kristiinankatu is an area of 6 x 4 metres marked on the asphalt, which can be reserved, for example, for a street performance or for selling handicrafts. The reservations are always free of charge for non-profit associations and for organising shows and performances. Other types of reservations are subject to a fee for companies and private individuals alike. The rent is EUR 20 for a whole day and EUR 10 for half a day. In addition, performances organised with the support of the Turku 2029 Foundation and as part of the programme of the tenth anniversary of Turku’s year as the European Capital of Culture will be seen on the Event Carpets.

The purpose of the Event Carpets is to enable the citizens to use urban spaces at a low threshold

- The purpose of the Event Carpets is to enable the citizens to use urban spaces such as streets and parks at a low threshold. To this end, we are creating a new 'Use your city' concept, which will be tested this summer in the event areas of Kristiinankatu and Rettiginrinne, Project Manager Minna Heiniö says about the new activities.

At the end of July, from 12 July to 1 August, Kristiinankatu will host a young entrepreneurs’ summer market. The entrepreneurs are young people aged 13 to 29 who have been selected for the market on the basis of a free-form application. They will sell and present their own products or services on the market.

After the young entrepreneurs’ market, the Kristiinankatu summer market will continue from 2 August until the end of the month. The summer market stalls can be rented for sales activities similarly as the stalls on the Old Great Square last summer.

Both the Event Carpets and the market stalls will be available for reservation through the city’s Varaamo service at varaamo.turku.fi.

Vehicle traffic will be restricted during the experiment

Since the start of the summer, the restaurants on Kristiinankatu have been allowed to put up summer terraces in the parking spaces along the street. These summer terraces can be expanded during the experiment. Other companies located along the street also have the opportunity to bring their activities out to the street.

Due to the space reserved for pedestrians, leisure areas and the operations of the street-side companies, vehicle traffic on Kristiinankatu between Linnankatu and Eerikinkatu will be cut off for the period of the summer street experiment.  On the section between Linnankatu and Eerikinkatu, driving to the plots and maintenance driving are permitted from the direction of Linnankatu. Driving to the P-Stockmann and P-Centrum parking halls on Kristiinankatu is still possible from Eerikinkatu.