MUSIC EXERCISE DANCE NATURE YOUTH CENTRES ART INFLUENCE TRAFFIC OPERATIONS SUMMER WEEKEND MEDIA EVENTS
MY HELSINKI.
WHAT IS THE YOUTH DEPARTMENT? Approximately 60 youth centres and facilities, dozens of hobbies, festivals, weekend and holiday activities, courses, camps, international exchange programmes, possibilities to participate, support, help, and information. The Youth Department works on the terms of and together with young people. You will be sure to find something to suit your taste, and if not, you can affect our operations. Join in by acquiring your membership card free of charge from a youth centre!
MUSIC Demo studios, rehearsal places, music instruction, band and club nights, DJ courses, the Gloria cultural arena‌ HELSINKI FREEDOM RECORDS, which operates at the Happi youth centre, is a non-profit record community, focusing on rap and hip hop, that offers its professional level sound and demo studios free of charge to all members. The HFR promotes young talent, without binding long-term contracts. HFR has given rise to MIKAEL GABRIEL and FLOWBOYSFAM, among others. For more info about HFR and the Youth Department’s other demo studios, visit
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EXERCISE There’s no need to go running if you don’t want to: there’s plenty of other options, such as football, night-time basketball, skateboarding, BMX, climbing, or floorball. The skateboarding network in Helsinki is unique: we have some 20 skateboarding places, including MICROPOLIS AT THE HELSINKI ZOO, as well as Finland’s largest skateboarding hall at the ACTIVITY CENTRE LUUPPI in Kontula.
DANCE You can dance all around Helsinki, instructed by top experts. The Youth Department organises dance classes in long-time favourites, as well as trendy novelties, from hip hop to disco dance, and breaking to Bollywood.
The Youth Department’s most extensive supplier of dance teaching is the DA-TEAM at the Pasila youth centre. It is known for its versatile dance range and professional teachers. Classes for beginners, as well as more advanced dancers, are organised in DISCO, VARIOUS FORMS
OF STREET DANCE, SHOW DANCE AND VOGUE, to name but a few.
NATURE The youth centres offer a real possibility to do good and to influence. All of our operations aim towards ethical consumption, starting with the sorting of our waste. You can participate in a swapping event or Fair Trade week. During the Fair Trade Week, you can help others by collecting school supplies in backpacks to be sent to Karelian children. The MERIHARJU NATURE HOUSE is a place specialising in nature and environmental activities, located in the heart of the Uutela pine forest near the sea. The Nature House promotes sustainable lifestyles and organises nature school days for schoolchildren, as well as various other events. The Nature House has its own blog that keeps you up to date on current events and features the environmentcentred FLASH OF THE WEEK SECTION.
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THE PAULIG VILLA in Töölö hosts the Wempaimisto camping equipment library for young people, available free of charge to everyone with a Youth Department membership card. You can tend to sheep, goats, cattle, rabbits, pigs, and horses, or participate in gardening work at the FALLKULLA DOMESTIC ANIMAL FARM, which is also a popular site for outings.
YOUTH CENTRES
The more than 40 youth centres and larger operating centres in Helsinki offer the chance to meet your friends, play many kinds of games, or just to hang around. The youth centres also organise many kinds of activities, from cooking clubs to climbing. The youth centres offer you the chance to meet young people from, say, Germany, the UK, or Spain, and to get to know more about their lives. Similarly, you and your group can offer young people from other countries the opportunity to visit Finland through an international camp. Ask for more information at your youth centre!
ART Värkkäämö is a handicrafts and visual arts workshop in Youth Activity Centre HAPPI. At Värkkäämö, you can take part in guided courses, work on your own handicrafts projects, reserve a space for independent work and make use of various tools and materials. Värkkäämö is an ideal place for cloth printing, making printing frames, sewing and painting, for example. You can also create art at many youth centres.
THE NARRI centre offers you the chance to learn more about the secrets of the theatre through improvisation, verbal expression, voice, motion, and feelings – always lead by professionals, of course. If you are at all interested in acting, come and join us! Some youth centres also offer drama clubs.
INFLUENCE RUUTI is a system of influence intended, in particular, for the young people in Helsinki. Through Ruuti, you can make a difference, for example, by submitting an initiative in the RUUTI.NET initiative tool, running for the core group or voting in the RUUTI CORE GROUP election, establishing an activity group or taking part in the activities of existing groups, and taking part in discussions in Päättäjämiitti. The great influence event RUUTIEXPO features workshops, discussions, things to do and learn and of course, influence. The RUUTI CORE GROUP is an annually elected group of twenty young people aged between 13 and 17. The core group serves as a link between the young people and decision-makers of Helsinki, and makes sure that the voice of Helsinki’s young people gets heard. For more information, please visit RUUTI.NET
TRAFFIC OPERATIONS The Tattarisuo Traffic Training Centre has tracks for go-karts and radio-controlled cars, a moped training area, and an offroad track for biking. The Tattarisuo and Pit채j채nm채ki motor halls, as well as the Pukinm채ki and Rastis moped halls, offer the equipment and instructions for repairing your own vehicle. MOBIILIMOTTIS is a moped workshop, travelling around the Helsinki metropolitan region, where you can fix your own moped, exchange instructions, and meet other moped drivers. Mobiilimottis is open from April to October. For the schedules and places, search for Mobiilimottis on Facebook.
SUMMER If you need something to do, just select the ones you like the most from the hundreds of camps, courses, and other forms of summer activities. How about a graffiti course, band camp, or go-kart camp? You can search for the summer activities at HARRASTUSHAKU.FI.
THE PIHLAJAMAKI YOUTH PARK is the perfect place for spending a summer day: it has the Freestylepark, Playfield, Rock Arena, and the Pihlis CafĂŠ, as well as all sizes of events and courses.
WEEKENDS Many youth centres are open on Friday and Saturday nights. The programme and atmosphere are usually created by the young people themselves, which makes these nights so popular. Night-time cafés, band nights, discos, events, karaoke, and other theme nights are also organised on weekends. Basketball, music, and friends. NIGHT-TIME BASKETBALL is played on Friday and Saturday nights. We have the balls and anything else that’s needed. During the summer, we play at the Hietsu shore, for example. For the schedules and places, search for Yökoripallo on Facebook.
MEDIA Participate in LAN parties or learn to edit, photograph, and design websites. We provide all kinds of possibilities! THE HAPPI YOUTH CENTRE is a multi-purpose media house. You can play games, design new ones, and learn about the newest trends at the PELITALO GAME HOUSE. NUORTEN AANI (Voice of Young People) creates stories for the central national media.
HATTUMEDIA also gives you the chance to take part in multi-camera broadcasts, event editorial staffs, various media courses, and make your own radio show. While there, you can also deepen your media expertise by earning HattuDiplomas. NUORISO.HEL.FI/HAPPI
EVENTS The Youth Department organises cultural events, both large and small, in cooperation with young people. The young people’s winter holiday event REAKTORI offers lots of things to do, such as sports, handicrafts and games. The LOISTEFESTARI festival offers the joy of performing and success through theatre, music, and dance on alternate years. The Taito talent show event pits Helsinki’s schools against each other every other year and features performances ranging from beatboxing to magic shows. You can take part with almost any talent you want.
AANI JA VIMMA is the king of Finnish band reviews, which has opened the door to the stars for many a young musician. JUNNUVIMMA is the band review with the highest street-cred for children between 10 and 15. RUUTIEXPO, the most influential day for young people, invites young people to have an influence, learn, voice their opinions, and to have fun. For more information, please visit
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SUPPORT, HELP, AND INFORMATION When your life doesn’t go according to plan or when you just need advice for the future, the Youth Department is ready to help. PULMAKULMA is an online service, where you can ask help for anything anonymously, such as relationships.
WWW.NUORET.INFO THE GIRLS CENTRE is a boy-free zone, where all girls and women aged between 10 and 28 are welcome to spend their time. We also have hobby and interactive girls’ groups and offer Pop In sexual advice.
WWW.TYTTOJENTALO.FI THE BOYS CENTRE welcomes all boys and men between the ages of 10 and 28 to discuss the things they find important with reliable adults. At the centre, you can also take part in various group activities, camps and workshops, as well as make use of SexInfo services. WWW.POIKIENTALO.FI ASEMANSEUTU offers support and things to do, especially for multicultural young people. The Youth Department’s youth instructors work in the city centre, at the Kamppi shopping centre and the Walkers house. They are ready to help young people find important services and hobbies, for example. Asemanseutu works in cooperation with Aseman Lapset ry.
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