Maybe it's the brief and wild summer that inspires it, but Finns have created some of the most unique events and competitions in the world. This distinctive festival is held in Teuva, a town by the lakeside in Western Finland, and showcases over 50 imaginative and unique small saunas.
Program & Hours
The Mobile Sauna Festival in Teuva begins at noon with a grand opening. Following the grand opening, there will be music and a presentation of the smallest moving sauna. Other sauna owners are also invited to present their saunas. In addition to the competitions, there are events and activities for women, men, and children. At 4:30 pm, there will be a prize-giving ceremony for the competition winners and a lottery for those who registered their saunas before June 30th. The lottery prize is a small sauna stove made by one of the sponsors, Teuvan Keitintehdas Oy.
Competitions
The festival features various competitions, including the Saunavihta Throwing, where participants throw a saunavihta (a bundle of leafy, fragrant silver birch boughs used in traditional Finnish saunas) as far as possible. The saunavihta is used to gently beat oneself, providing a relaxing effect on the muscles.
Another competition is the Saunavihta Making, where participants create their own saunavihta using tools provided in the sauna area, with birch brushwood available. Various spaces, such as telephone booths, cars, and combine harvesters, are being transformed into saunas. There are only two rules for every participant: the sauna must be mobile and accommodate at least one person. Be sure to bring your towel, swimsuit, and the whole family along!
Tickets & Parking
There are no tickets required, so everyone is welcome to join. However, there is a parking fee of 10 euros for cars. A bus service is available from ABC Teuva Centre for a small fee, running every hour starting at noon and returning from Parra starting at 12:30 pm. If you arrive with a sauna, you will have a free parking space close to the sauna area.
History of Mobile Sauna Festival in Teuva
The festival began in 2006 on the local level with just 18 participants, but it has since grown significantly, now attracting around 8,000 visitors annually to this small town. Considering there are 5.3 million Finns and 1.7 million saunas, it’s clear that sauna culture is deeply ingrained in Finnish life. Saunas are ubiquitous across Finland, and it is customary for Finns to visit a sauna about once a week.
