Leisure in Kokkola

Kokkola is an old city by the sea, where the environment offers a versatile setting for camping and recreational activities. If you are interested in hiking, you should read about Finnish everyman’s rights under the section on “Recreation and travel in nature” in this service.

Many culture and sports facilities enable various kinds of leisure activities. In addition to sports and culture, clubs and associations, other leisure groups and municipal colleges offer plenty of opportunities to study languages and learn manual skills, for example. A great variety of cultural events take place in Snellman Hall and other cultural facilities in the city.

Annual events in Kokkola include, for example, Venetian Festival at the end of the summer season, Kokkola Cup for junior footballers, Kokkola Summer Festival, Lohtaja Church Music Festival, Kokkola Winter Dance, and Kokkola Winter Accordion Festival.

More information on leisure services in the Kokkola region is available on the Kokkola city website. There is also a link to the Event calendar on the city's website that contains information on current culture and sports events.

Further information: Leisure.

Kokkola city library is located in the city centre. Branch libraries are located in Koivuhaka, Kälviä, Lohtaja, Ullava and Rahkonen. There is also a mobile library that serves various parts of the city.

Information on the opening hours and services of the library is available on the library's website. The library also has an online library. There customers can browse the library's collections, reserve material, renew their loans, create inter-library loan requests and loan e-books at any time. Along with the efficient library network in Finland, almost all collections in Finnish libraries are available to library users in Kokkola.

Kokkola city library/main library
Isokatu 3, 67100 Kokkola
Telephone: 040 806 5124, 040 806 5435 
Email: kokkolan.kirjasto(at)kokkola.fi

Further information: Libraries.

Kokkola offers versatile facilities to partake in sports and exercise all year round. There are sports facilities throughout the city. The city arranges guided activities at the Swimming Centre VesiVeijari (Uintikeskus VesiVeijari) and sports centres. In addition, there are several gyms of various types. There are gyms for the elderly in the service centres of Honkaharju and Kuusikumpu.

The city maintains cycle tracks, hiking routes, exercise tracks, ski tracks, beaches, playing fields for ball games and skating, and exercise areas in the neighbourhoods.

You can obtain more information on the versatile sports selection in the online service of the Kokkola Region College.

There are almost a hundred sports clubs and other sports associations in Kokkola. More information on sports facilities in Kokkola can be found on the Kokkola city website.

Further information: Exercise and sports.

Recreation and travel in nature are traditional and popular leisure activities in Finland at all seasons. In Finland, everyman’s rights allow you to pick berries and mushrooms in forests, and hike, ride a bike or ski in the winter. You must not enter yards in residential areas without permission.

A fishing permit is needed for fishing except for angling and ice fishing. Hunting also requires a hunting permit. Everyman’s rights do not allow you to leave litter, damage trees or vegetation, disturb or damage birds' nests and nestlings, drive motor vehicles off road without the landowner’s permission, or build any structures, even if they are temporary.

More information on Kokkola's outdoor routes, rest areas, fishing, boating and birdwatching towers, for example, is available on the city's website.

The routes and areas for camping, canoeing, hiking and cycling in the Kokkola region can be viewed in an online map service. The map service also includes the locations of most of the sports facilities.

You can buy a map of Kokkola's outdoor activities from Kokkola Tourism Centre: Kauppatori 5, 67100 Kokkola.

Further information: Recreation and travel in nature.

Kokkola is a traditional theatre city where high-quality drama is presented by both professional and amateur actors and actresses. The Kokkola Municipal Theatre operates at the intimate Vartiolinna (Torikatu 48). You can find the programme of the Kokkola Municipal Theatre on the theatre's website. More information on the operation of amateur theatres is available on their website and the event calendar.

Kokkola has one cinema, Bio Rex, that has two halls equipped with digital and 3D technology. You can find the listings of films at Rex by clicking the link below.

Further information: Theatre and cinema.

K.H. Renlund's Museum is located at the heart of the city, in the traditional Roos House. The city of Kokkola established the museum in 1909 based on a donation bequeathed by the businessman Karl Herman Renlund (1850–1908). Renlund's collection from the golden age of Finnish art is on display in the cultural-historical interior of the museum along with temporary exhibitions. The cultural history of the city and ITE art (ITE stands for ‘itse tehty elämä’, i.e. self-made life) exhibitions are also on display in other buildings in the museum quarters. You can find more detailed information on the services, exhibitions and current activities on the K.H. Renlund's Museum website.

Besides K.H. Renlund's Museum, Kieppi (Kieppi is temporarily closed due to a fire), the Natural History Museum, is well worth a visit in Kokkola as well as several local history museums and other historic sights. For example, Taide-Vionoja in Ullava exhibits the artist Veikko Vionoja's works. Toivonen Animal Park and a Peasant Museum are located in Kälviä, approximately 10 km north of Kokkola. You can obtain further information on these locations by clicking the following links.

Further information: Museums.

Many culture and sports facilities enable various kinds of leisure activities. Several clubs and municipal colleges offer a chance to study languages and learn various manual skills, for example, in addition to sports and culture. Children and young people can obtain basic arts education in music, dance, art and handicrafts. There is also a rock music school in the city which is maintained by the youth services.

The youth services of the city have seven youth centres throughout the city. Youth centres, which forbid the use of intoxicants and smoking, offer guided activities to children in grades 3–6 and young people from the ages of 13–17 in different parts of Kokkola. Information on leisure activities for children and young people is available on the city's website.

Youth Centre Vinge's information service provides current information on, for example, internationalisation, studying, working life, health, leisure activity options and housing.

Kokkola Region College offers various leisure activities to children and young people, for example, in arts, music and dance. Please check the current course selection from the college's online service.

Kokkola Evangelical Lutheran Parishes also provide leisure activities for children and young people, such as playground activities, clubs, music activities and camps. You can find information on these activities on the website of the Kokkola Evangelical Lutheran Parish Union.

Youth Centre Vinge
Puutarhakatu 2
67100 Kokkola

Further information: Hobbies for children and young people.

Kokkola has active and versatile clubs and associations that offer leisure activities for residents of all ages.

Further information: Associations.