December events 8-14.12.2025

This week in Uusikaupunki, you can truly dive into the spirit of Christmas. The programme is so rich it almost makes your head spin: concerts, exhibitions, recruitment event, crafting sessions, and all kinds of sports activities that you can do.

Music lovers are in for an especially delightful week, and the library pampers visitors with a wide range of events. Weekend fairs and markets offer the perfect chance to find lovely Christmas gifts — for your home or to surprise a friend. And on Thursday, we celebrate the traditional Tonttutorstai, when shops in the city centre stay open later and visitors can enjoy warm rice porridge on the street of Alinenkatu.

Festive Uusikaupunki is calling — pick your favourites and come enjoy the cosy and atmospheric offerings of the city! 🎄✨

Christmas calendar windows located around the city will delight us once again all the way until Epiphany. Each day a new window opens, offering a perfect excuse to go out and spot them on an evening walk. A map of all the locations is available at the Uudenkaupungin Vanhat Talot association office, the Alinenkatu Christmas Shop, and various shops in the city centre. You can also find the map online. Please note that, unlike the printed map, two windows will open on 11 December: Seikow Daycare and Tilkku-täkki Daycare. The Christmas calendar windows are organized by the Uudenkaupungin Vanhat Talot association.

The Tuu Messiin recruitment event brings local jobseekers and employers together at the Pohitulli Sports Hall on Thursday 11th of December from 12:00 to 15:00. At the event, you can meet representatives of several companies face to face, hear about current job opportunities, and get more information about positions that interest you. The fair offers an excellent chance to network, present your skills, and even land an on-the-spot job interview. The event is organized by Ukipolis and the City of Uusikaupunki.
 

On Elf Thursday, 11th of December, Alinenkatu will host a rice porridge serving starting at 18:00, and Santa Claus will also visit the event from 18:00 onwards. Many shops in the city centre will be open until 21:00. Café Paapuuri offers Christmas craft activities until 19:00, and at 21:00 a child- and pet-friendly fireworks show will take place by the Kaupunginlahti waterfront. The event is organized by the Uusikaupunki Service Entrepreneurs in cooperation with the city’s business services.

This year’s annual Christmas Market will be a multicultural event. On Saturday, 13th of December, from 10:00 to 14:00, visitors can enjoy international Christmas flavours suitable for Finnish holiday tables as well. Music performances will take place on the market stage every hour, and familiar fairy-tale characters will be roaming the area.

The traditional Joint Christmas Fair, organized by the parish and the Martha Organization, will also take place on Saturday, 13th of December, from 10:00 to 14:00 at the Parish Centre. The Marthas will be selling rice porridge and raisin soup to support missionary work.

Additional Christmas fairs will be held on Sunday, 14th of December, also in both Pyhämaa and Lokalahti.

There are also market events in Kalanti during the weekend. The Pikkujoulutori Christmas market, organized by Männäisten Tori ry, will take place this year at Kalantitalo on Saturday, 13th of December, from 10:00 to 14:00. A singing Santa will bring festive spirit to the market with Christmas songs. There will also be market stalls as well as complimentary mulled wine and gingerbread.

The traditional Männäinen Christmas Market will be held on Sunday, 14th of December, from 11:00 to 14:00 at the Kalanti Local Heritage Museum. The museum will be open throughout the event, and the Kalanti Society will be serving delicious Christmas porridge.
Photo: Kalanti-Seura Facebook

This year’s final Perhepeuhu (Family Play Session) will take place on Sunday, 14th of December, from 15:00 to 17:00 at the Uusikaupunki Sports Centre. Perhepeuhu is intended primarily for preschool-aged children and young schoolchildren. The event has no guided activities, so children are welcome to move and play freely together with their accompanying adult. Participation is free of charge. The event is organized by the local MLL association and the Uusikaupunki Sports Centre.

Library events

This week’s story time on Thursday, 11 December at 9:30 features a puppet show where Hulina and Pulina take us on a space adventure. The curious mouse children travel to the moon to taste the finest cheese, but they must avoid Kissa Kopernikus, the cat who guards it. Along the way, they discover what happens on the planets Suklaus, Tigerius, and Vaniljus. This fun family-friendly mouse tale explores how to act in tricky situations – and why you should never leave a friend behind.

On Thursday, 11 December at 16:00, a virtual visit will take us aboard the Museum Ship Pommern. The virtual tour is produced by Vreal Oy and will be presented in Swedish this time.

The Bead Embroidery Evening for Youth offers a creative way to explore Finnish craft traditions on Thursday, 11 December from 17:00 to 19:00. In addition to learning embroidery techniques, participants can create a beautiful Christmas gift for themselves or a loved one. The free workshop will be held in the library’s event space and is open to 6th graders and older youth. Participation is limited to the first eight registrants. Register here. The workshop will be guided by bead embroidery professional Nadja Federenko and library youth worker Nella Toivanen.

On Friday, 12 December from 15:00 to 17:00, the library invites children and teens to enjoy a Christmas-themed story and craft session. The event is free of charge, and all materials will be provided by the library.

Music for everybody

On Monday, 8th of December at 19:00, the New Church will host an Evening of Finnish Music. The concert celebrates both Jean Sibelius and the 160th anniversary of the church’s Marcussen & Sohn organ, as well as the emergence of a new generation of Finnish composers. The programme includes the world premiere of a new organ work by Uusikaupunki-born Kuura Klaavu, "Only the Quiet Sun Above You" (2025). Music by Jean Sibelius, Juhani Haapasalo, and Heino Kaski will also be performed. Admission is free.

On Wednesday, 10th of December at 18:00, the Workers’ Hall offers an opportunity to sing and dance at the Karaoke and Social Dance Evening. Visitors can enjoy traditional ballroom dances to recorded music and sing karaoke if they wish. Admission is €10. The event is organized by Dance School Step By Step.

Uusikaupunki’s choirs will present their traditional joint Christmas concert, "Sävel joulun soi", on Wednesday, 10th of December at 19:00 in the New Church. The performers include Laulu-Veikot, D’ameni, Cantilona, Vox Renaissance, Lauluyhtye Pilke, and the Vakka-opisto Gospel Choir. Admission is free, and a collection will be taken for the activities of Aisti ry’s Uusikaupunki peer support group.

Students from the Wintteri upper secondary music classes will perform Christmas songs in Finnish and German together with students from their partner school in Cologne at the Candlelight Concert on Thursday, 11th of December at 18:00. The German guests will also perform their own music. After the concert, members of the Uusikaupunki Soroptimist Club will serve hot mulled juice and gingerbread cookies to the audience. The entrance fee is €10, and all proceeds will support the music activities at Wintteri School.

On Thursday, 11th of December at 19:00, students of the Music Institute will perform on the steps of Wintteri in a Christmas concert for vocalists. The programme features a varied selection of both duets and solo pieces. Admission is free.
 

Johanna and Mikko Iivanainen will perform at the Cultural Centre Cruselli on Thursday, 11th of December at 19:00. Their concert features a warm and atmospheric selection of traditional Christmas songs as well as more contemporary seasonal music. Singer Johanna Iivanainen is known as a versatile performer who moves effortlessly between jazz, pop, and folk music. She became widely known to Finnish audiences as a soloist on the TV show SuomiLOVE from 2014 to 2019.
Mikko Iivanainen is a skilled and multifaceted guitarist who has collaborated not only with his wife Johanna, but also with artists such as Maria Kalaniemi, Timo Alakotila, Edu Kettunen, Mika Kuokkanen and Juhani Aaltonen. Tickets for the concert are available at lippu.fi.

On Friday, 12th December at 10:00, the Lucia maidens will bring light to the winter darkness by singing Christmas songs at the marketplace.

The traditional Most Beautiful Christmas Songs events invite people to gather, sing together, and support the charity work of the Finnish Mission Society. Christmas songs will also be sung in Swedish on Friday, 12th of December at 18:00 in the New Church during De vackraste julsångerna. The event will also feature a Lucia procession.

Movie lovers are in for a treat at Kuvala, one of Finland’s oldest cinemas with over 100 years of history. Today, Kuvala is a fully digital and modern movie theatre, and you can explore the current film selection on its website – where you can also purchase tickets in advance. And for the perfect movie night, be sure to pick up some treats from Kuvala’s own kiosk.

The doors of the New Church in Uusikaupunki (Rauhankatu 3) are open for personal quiet time every Thursday from 16:00 to 18:00. Visitors can also explore this beautiful Gothic-style red-brick church, completed in 1863 and designed by architect Chiewitz. The church is known for its bright interior, clean architectural lines, and peaceful atmosphere.

 

History opens at the museums

Wahlberg's Museum House (Ylinenkatu 11) is located in the grid-plan area, surrounded by a charming wooden-house milieu. Fredrik Wahlberg, founder of the Uusikaupunki tobacco factory, built this impressive residence for himself in the early 1870s. The rooms still feature original decorative tiled stoves and skillfully painted ceilings, and in the salon, even the hand-painted wallpapers from more than 150 years ago remain intact.

The upper floor of the museum showcases shipbuilding, outfitting of vessels, and commercial seafaring. Sailors’ chests, souvenirs, ship paintings, and a captain’s navigation instruments offer a fascinating look into the city’s maritime history. The youngest visitors can play detective and complete exhibition-themed tasks.

You can explore the maritime history and the lifestyle of the 19th-century bourgeoisie from Tuesday to Saturday, 12:00–15:00.

The museum’s Christmas exhibition has opened, inviting visitors into the festive atmospheres of both a bourgeois home and a sailor’s life. On the ground floor, the rooms are filled with the scents of Christmas flowers and the sparkle of seasonal decorations. The exhibition highlights the traditions of seafaring families and features touching excerpts from the early 1900s letters of the Widberg family of Uusikaupunki — stories of longing, everyday joys, and the anticipation of Christmas.

Upstairs, the exhibition introduces the men who spent Christmas at sea, with accounts that reveal what the holiday was like far from home, on the other side of the world.

The Christmas exhibition can be visited during the museum’s opening hours.

The exhibition “Among the First – Women of Uusikaupunki in a Man’s World” at the Wahlberg Museum House presents 13 women from the late 19th and early 20th centuries who were pioneers in professions officially open only to men at the time. Such professions included, for example, organist and physician. Many of these women also pursued hobbies that were not yet considered appropriate for women, such as hunting or sailing.

The exhibition is open during the museum’s regular opening hours until late March 2026.

The Automobile Museum on Autotehtaankatu is open daily from 11:00 to 17:00. Across its three halls, the museum showcases more than one hundred vehicles — from classic cars to futuristic concept models, as well as motorcycles and even an airplane. A place of honour is given to Korvensuu from 1913, the first Finnish car manufactured in Mynämäki.

The museum also displays the very first Saab car produced at the Uusikaupunki car factory on 13 November 1969. The Saab 96 model was presented to President Urho Kekkonen, and its registration number was EKA-96. You can also find older Saabs manufactured in Trollhättan, Sweden, such as the first Saab 92 ever registered in Finland, dating back to 1950.

The museum additionally features a restoration workshop and a museum shop. There is also a diverse art exhibition drawn from the collection of a Finnish collector, showcasing works by artists including Juhani Palmu and Pekka Laiho.

For exhibition lovers

Housed in an old wooden building, Runonkulma Gallery and Pikkukylän Puoti (Ylinenkatu 38 B) is open on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 16:00 to 19:00 and on Saturdays from 11:00 to 15:00. In December, the gallery presents Moods and Stories, an exhibition of the newest works from the art lending collection. The exhibition is open until 20 December and features artists Anne Kuntsi, Susanna Pihlaja, Hannele Salmela, Heli Sammalisto and Jenny Vuorela. The Gallery is open on Thursday 11th of December until 21:00.
The image shows The Song of the Tree by Hannele Salmela.
The gallery also houses Pikkukylän Puoti, a shop selling Finnish handicrafts, design, and art products.

At Gallery–Art Lending Horisontti (Alinenkatu 24), visitors can explore The Light of the Stone by Juhani Vuorisalmi and paintings by Heli Sammalisto in the exhibition Adalmina’s Pearl. The permanent collection has also been updated with new works from other members. The gallery offers many small artworks, cards, and old items from storage available at flea-market prices.
Horisontti is open Wednesday to Friday from 12:00 to 15:00 and on Saturdays from 10:00 to 13:00.

Located almost next door to Horisontti, Tupsula – The House of Thousands of Pom-Poms is a colourful and joyful exhibition that delights not only craft enthusiasts but also children, with unique artworks made entirely of pom-poms, including animal figures. Some of the playful pom-pom pieces have even spread onto the exterior walls of the exhibition building.
Tupsula is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 13:00 to 17:00 and on Saturdays from 10:00 to 14:00.
 

At the Cultural Centre Cruselli, you can explore the unique archipelago-themed exhibition “One Day, Six Visions.”
Six talented artists – Maija Elmnäinen, Margit Hakanen, Katariina Karikoski, Kirsi Lindroth, Laura Peterzéns and photographer Juha Karikoski – have each interpreted the same afternoon moment in the archipelago, capturing the atmosphere of traditional wooden boating and the Isoluoto sailing competition. The weather shifted from calm sunshine to stormy winds, and this diversity is reflected in the photographs, watercolours, acrylic and oil paintings, as well as ceramic works.
The exhibition is open until 19 December: Mon–Wed and Fri 10:00–16:00, Thu 10:00–18:00 and Sun 12:00–15:00, and during all events held at Cruselli.

At the Uusikaupunki Main Library, the exhibition “From Bom to Bonk – Henrik Helpiö’s Life’s Work” is on display.
Did you know that the library’s self-check-out machine was designed by Henrik Helpiö, known for his Bonk art? The exhibition presents a cross-section of Helpiö’s life’s work through artworks from his own collection as well as photographs and videos of his wider production. In the biography room, visitors can browse scrapbooks that trace the journey of his works around the world. The local history room features the library’s Bonk-related materials.
The exhibition is open during library opening hours until 30 December 2025.

At Café Paapuuri, visitors can enjoy an art exhibition by Hanna Ailio, showcasing colourful and expressive works. Paapuuri is open Mon–Fri 9:00–18:00 and Sat 9:00–16:00, and the exhibition runs until 10 December.

 Delicious moments at the local restaurants

 
In Uusikaupunki, food is delicious and the restaurant scene offers a wide variety of styles. Many restaurants favour locally produced ingredients, bringing fresh products from local farmers straight to your plate. Fresh fish is delivered daily from nearby waters, and the cosy atmospheres of the restaurants complete the dining experience.
Choose your favourite restaurant and enjoy!

Restaurants are also offering plenty of festive entertainment for the holiday season:

At Bistro Bay, Friday’s live evening features Covernautti, the king of cover bands, taking the stage at 22:30. Expect a lively atmosphere and iconic Finnish rock and pop hits. On Saturday, DJ Polly will be spinning records at kluBBen.

On Saturday, 13th of December from 14:30, Public House Olkkari hosts a Christmas party. The Christmas ham bingo offers seasonal prizes — including the ultimate reward, a Christmas ham. The evening continues with everyone’s favourite elves: 76 Notes.

Christmas ham bingo and a festive evening are also on the programme at Restaurant Blue Time in Kalanti on Saturday, 13 December from 21:00. After the bingo, Chris will perform.

Liikunnan iloa - ulkoilun riemua

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Cold-water swimming is said to keep colds at bay and strengthen the immune system. It also supports heart health and boosts overall wellbeing. Winter and cold-water swimming enthusiasts will find several options in the Uusikaupunki area.

Saunalaituri Höyry (Pilssitie 23) is located by the sea in Janhuanniemi, about 1.5 km from the city centre. Swimming and sauna sessions must be booked and paid for in advance through the website. Höyry is open year-round, daily from 10:00 to 22:00.
Höyry’s Blue Weeks: Swimming & sauna –50% from 10:00 to 14:00 every day until 14th of December. The discount is applied automatically in the booking system – all you need to do is reserve a time.

At Haimio’s open sauna, winter swimming is available on Saturdays from 16:00 to 19:00 at Haimiontie 351. Please arrive no later than 17:30.
Metsälehto sauna in Haimio offers winter swimming on Sundays from 16:00 to 18:00 at Haimiontie 365.

You can also take a winter dip at the Santtioranta pier, where heated changing rooms are available on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 8:00 to 19:00. The sauna is not in use during winter.

At the Wintteri Multi-Activity Centre, the swimming hall is open for splashing and swimming every day. In addition to lanes for fitness swimming, the hall includes a diving pool, water slide, wading pool, and a cold-water pool for winter swimming enthusiasts.

Opening hours are:
• Mon & Fri 8:00–21:30
• Tue & Thu 6:00–21:30
• Wed 12:00–21:30
• Sat 9:00–17:30
• Sun 12:00–17:30

Ticket sales end one hour before closing, and the pool area closes 30 minutes before the end of each day.
At the Wintteri café, you can enjoy weekday lunches, sweet and savoury snacks, and refreshments. The café is open Mon–Fri 8:00–19:30, Sat 8:45–16:00, and Sun 11:45–16:00.

At the Uusikaupunki Ice Hall, public skating takes place every Sunday from 10:00 to 11:00. Public skating is intended for skaters of all ages and skill levels, and the fee is €2 per person.

Even though the outdoor ski trails are not yet open, there is no need to worry — the ski and fitness tunnel at Vahterusring has already begun its winter season, and inside the tunnel the conditions are always perfect. The approximately one-kilometre loop features varied terrain with a 16-metre elevation change. In addition to the ski track, Vahterusring offers a fitness track suitable for Nordic walking, running, inline skating, or cycling.
The ski and fitness tunnel is open with an access card from Monday to Sunday, 6:00–22:00. Customer service is available Mon–Fri 10:00–15:00 and Sat 10:00–13:00.

The fitness tunnel also includes a golf simulator, offering a realistic golf experience with a selection of 90 courses from around the world. The simulator provides an authentic playing feel and a fun way to learn the basics of golf. Free introductory sessions for beginners and new players are held every Monday — juniors from 17:00 to 18:00 and adults from 18:00 to 19:00. Registration is available at ugk.fi or by email at ellasalminengolf@gmail.com. Equipment is provided on site.

On Sunday, 14 December, from 10:00 to 13:00, Vahterusring will host a Ski Adventure for young children. The event is designed to bring the joy of skiing to children under 7 together with the whole family. No own skis are needed — equipment can be borrowed on site.

You can enjoy the maritime nature even in early winter by visiting the Pamprinniemi nature trail in Pyhämaa.
Near the city centre, Hiunjärvi, also known as a bird lake, offers nature trails and a lean-to shelter for visitors.

The Kasarminlahti accessible outdoor route and birdwatching tower can be reached, for example, from the sports field parking area. There is also a lean-to shelter located near the route.

Another pleasant excursion destination is the Oinassaari lean-to in Korsaari. The distance from Uusikaupunki city centre is about 18 kilometres in the direction of Lepäinen. Pack something to grill and head out for an adventure!

Uusikaupunki’s unique, welcoming and charming boutiques invite visitors to shop, offering a diverse selection of stores and products all within short walking distance. You can discover treasures in antique shops and flea markets, refresh your wardrobe with new clothes and shoes, or brighten up your home with new interior items. And don’t forget to pick up souvenirs or gifts from the local gift shops!
The newly opened Christmas Shop on Alinenkatu is filled with local craftsmanship – handmade items, gift ideas, new products and selections from local associations.
Photo: Sisustus Ulpukka / Facebook.

If you wish to stay overnight, Uusikaupunki offers several comfortable accommodation options. Hotels are located close to the main services in the city centre, as are well-equipped apartments, some in idyllic wooden-house surroundings. A relaxing alternative is cottage accommodation, where you can unwind in the heart of nature.
You can find accommodation options here

For more information and additional events, visit the link below:
tapahtumat.uusikaupunki.fi/en