The Joensuu Arena is a large multi-purpose hall and a center for large events in

Joensuu Joensuu (; krl, Jovensuu; ) is a city and municipality in North Karelia, Finland, located on the northern shore of Lake Pyhäselkä (northern part of Lake Saimaa) at the mouth of the Pielinen River (''Pielisjoki''). It was founded in 1848. Th ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, built primarily for the use of

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

s. It is the largest building in the Mehtimäki's sports area, right near the center of Joensuu. The arena's equipment level, acoustics and lighting power are also suitable for organizing large meetings,

trade fair A trade fair, also known as trade show, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and c ...

s, events and

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety a ...

s. The arena was completed in February 2004. When completed, it was the largest wooden building in Finland.

Paavo Lipponen Paavo Tapio Lipponen (; born 23 April 1941) is a Finnish politician and former reporter. He was Prime Minister of Finland from 1995 to 2003, and Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Finland from 1993 to 2005. He also served as Speaker of the ...

, the

Speaker of Parliament The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

at the time, officially inaugurated it on March 17, 2004. The arena is a venue for major trade fairs and events. Among other things, various fairs have been held there, the largest of which is the Karelian Fair 2004, and large public events, such as the Gospel Festival 2006 and the Party of Finland Party Conference 2008. The SDP, the

National Coalition Party sv, Samlingspartiet , leader1_title = Chairman , leader1_name = Petteri Orpo , leader2_title = Deputy chairs , leader2_name = Antti Häkkänen Elina ValtonenAnna-Kaisa Ikonen , merger = Finnish Party, Young Finnis ...

and the

Finns Party The Finns Party, formerly known as the True Finns ( fi, Perussuomalaiset, PS, sv, Sannfinländarna, Sannf.), is a right-wing populist political party in Finland. It was founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party. The ...

have also held their party meetings in the Arena. The arena is the home hall of

Kataja BC Kataja Basket Club is a professional basketball club of sports club Kataja from Joensuu, Finland. The team plays in the Korisliiga, the highest tier of Finnish basketball. In 2015, Kataja won its first national championship, after it beat Bisons ...

(

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

) and Josban (

floorball Floorball is a type of floor hockey with five players and a goalkeeper in each team. Men and women play indoors with sticks and a plastic ball with holes. Matches are played in three twenty-minute periods. The sport of bandy also played a role ...

) in Joensuu. Joensuun Maila (

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

) and

JIPPO JIPPO is a Finnish football club, based in Joensuu. It plays in the Kakkonen, the third highest level of Finnish football. Jippo plays its home matches at Mehtimäki, Joensuu. JIPPO was formed in 2001 after the merger of JiiPee and Ratanat&nb ...

(

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

) play the games of the winter series, JIPPO also plays the spring and autumn series. The Joensuu

Thai Boxing Muay Thai ( th, มวยไทย, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "art of eight limbs", as it is characterised ...

Club also trains at the Joensuu Arena. The biggest event in the arena so far was the Taitaja event, which brought tens of thousands of spectators to Joensuu in February-March 2007. In May 2007,

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

performed in the arena, when the audience was 6,000 people at the same time.YLE: Deep Purple konsertoi heinäkuussa Joensuussa
(in Finnish)

References

External links

Joensuu Arena
at Joensuu.fi (in Finnish) Indoor arenas in Finland Joensuu Buildings and structures in North Karelia {{finland-stub

See also

References

External links