The summer at Turku City Library is filled with free events, and the Library Courtyard will buzz with culture, poetry, song, and dance throughout the season. The summer program includes spoken word performances, sing-alongs, courtyard dances, and the lively Night of the Arts.
– In summer, the main library expands outdoors as the Library Courtyard offers a wonderful setting for relaxing, reading, and attending events. Weather permitting, most events will take place in the courtyard. Outside the city center, activities will happen at mobile library stops, where a Mobile Library Tour brings performing arts to delight its customers, says event coordinator, Information Specialist Suvi Kiukas.
Music, Circus Arts, and Carnival Feeling Ahead
The library’s summer kicks off already in May with Suvi suloinen, a shared spring celebration for everyone in the main library courtyard on Thursday, May 21. The program includes sing-alongs accompanied by Timo Rautala and an entertaining performance by circus artist Marianne Vaalimaa. At the end of the event, the statue of a calf, Mellu, will receive its flower wreath to the tune of the traditional Suvivirsi song.
The Mobile Library Tour runs from June 1–11, bringing cultural performances to its stops. From Monday to Thursday, you can enjoy performances ranging from puppet theatre to juggling, from circus adventures to poetry karaoke. These compact performances can be experienced at every scheduled stop.
Baby Week, held May 25–29 at the main library, will delight the youngest members of the family with a variety of cultural and artistic experiences. The City District Weeks will host Kesäkarnevaalit on June 13 in the Main Library Courtyard, featuring dance, music, a children’s badge workshop, and plenty of fun activities for the whole family.
On June 15, visitors from Poitiers, France will join us at the Main Library for a zine workshop focused on self-published alternative magazines.
Go Runo Go! in the Library’s Summer Courtyard
The Go Runo Go! event, now held for the eighth time, will bring poetry to a summer afternoon on July 6. Organized by Turku City Library and Varsinais-Suomen Runoviikko Poetry Association, the event is named in homage to poet Markku Into.
Poets performing in the Library Courtyard include Taneli Viljanen, Maria Matinmikko, Olli Sinivaara, Juha Kulmala, Hanna Storm, and Juha Väisänen. The event concludes with an open mic session.
Dancing and Singing in the Courtyard
On Monday and Tuesday evenings, the Library Courtyard fills with Courtyard Dances and Sing-Alongs organized by Turun soitannollinen kerho. Weekly opportunities to enjoy music are available throughout the summer. Courtyard dances run from June 1 to August 31, and sing-alongs from June 23 to September 1.
At the end of the summer, on August 13, the traditional Night of the Arts in Turku will once again be celebrated. The Library Courtyard will host its popular library book sale. In addition, there will be plenty of other programming with a strong focus on music: the Music Department’s stage will once again feature a marathon reading/singing of the Finnish national epic Kalevala, and two live music performances will take place in the courtyard.
The Spelfolk association brings folk music duo Esko Järvelä and Roger Tallroth (violin, guitar) to perform in the courtyard. Grammy-winning roots rock artist and children’s music legend Dan Zanes, together with jazz vocalist and music therapist Claudia Zanes, will perform in Turku as part of their Finland and the Baltic states tour, creating joyful, family-friendly roots folk music in the Library Courtyard.
Welcome to enjoy the library’s colourful summer!