Unique villages – vibrant everyday life and local atmosphere
Charming villages and inviting town centers lead you to local life, nature sites, and the region’s distinctive spots.
Äänekoski
Äänekoski’s city center sits on an island. It’s a true pedestrian core. Shopping centers, independent shops and cafés are concentrated in a compact area. Shopping is easy and there’s plenty to do.
Downtown Äänekoski also attracts with its rich cultural offerings. Music-filled events take over Rantapuisto in summer, and Painotalo adapts to a variety of art events year-round.
At the city art museum, you can pause for a moment and admire rotating exhibitions. The multi-purpose hall Pankkari provides great settings for sports, fairs, and other events.
Suolahti
A strong industrial community cherishes its past. Suolahti’s Wanha Asema offers a time trip more than a hundred years back. Both steam trains and steamships gather there. You can also hop aboard a nostalgic "lättähattu" train.
The Route 69 festival, named after the number of Kuopiontie, rumbles through midsummer with hefty rock. Local passion peaks at sporting events—you can feel it in the ice arena or the athletics stands.
Konginkangas
Konginkangas is the oldest part of Äänekoski—at least when it comes to education. The region’s first elementary school began operating in Konginkangas in 1867.
This active village values its past. At the local heritage museum of the Kömin Kilta club, items related to agriculture and forestry are vividly displayed. Kalevala Koru has produced the Konginkangas brooch modeled on an Iron Age find.
The Konginkangas Summer Days event brings locals, neighbors, and visitors together to enjoy themselves. In the village of Liimattala, highlights include Kömi Theatre and a racecourse that draws horse enthusiasts together.
Sumiainen
Sumiainen deals four aces to the traveler: varied nature; unpretentious people and atmosphere; a strong, open village spirit; and distinctive events.
The charming La Kala opera with its international guests, a village shop squeezed into a single cupboard, and the world’s smallest rautalanka festival are things you won’t find elsewhere. Aittatori, the summer shop of home bakers and artisans, offers authentic flavors and fresh coffee and buns.
The Saarikas village hall, with its fitness tracks, offers many opportunities for exercise enthusiasts. In Köyhyydenkylä of Rautionmäki, old-time life, craftsmanship, and everyday tools are appreciated. You can bathe in a smoke sauna and even sleep in a dugout.
Koivisto
Koivisto is a village whose rhythm of life is always colored by considerable enthusiasm. When something is taken on, it’s done briskly, with good cheer, and all the way to the finish—whether it’s village activities or basketball.
Hietama
In the landscapes of the Suojoki, culture flourishes year-round in Hietama and energizes everyday life. People come from afar to be refreshed by performances from both amateur and professional theaters. The parquet of the old manor draws crowds into the whirl of dance.
Honkola
Honkola is still pure farmland, even if you wouldn’t think so from the main road. Good road connections ensure its appeal. In Honkola, you’re a bit at the center of everything, yet still in your own peace.
Mämme
In Mämme, people live embraced by lush lakes. Highway 4 (Nelostie) runs through the village of Mämme, bringing thousands of passers-by every day. The village cherishes the good ways of bygone times, with the village library, village evenings, and the sewing circle bringing people together.