Särkänniemi (; translates to "Cape of Sandbank") is an

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population ...

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 Bot ...

, located in the district by the same name. The park features an

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

, a

planetarium A planetarium ( planetariums or ''planetaria'') is a Theater (structure), theatre built primarily for presenting educational entertainment, educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navi ...

, a children's

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to z ...

, an art museum and an observation tower Näsinneula (Näsi Needle). Särkänniemi is the second most popular amusement park in

with

Linnanmäki Linnanmäki ( sv, Borgbacken, colloquially ''Lintsi'', ) is an amusement park in Helsinki, Finland. It was opened on 27 May 1950 and is owned by the non-profit Children's Day Foundation (, ), which operates the park in order to raise funds for ...

in Helsinki being the most popular one. Särkänniemi has five

rollercoasters A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are o ...

: the inverted coaster Tornado, the flying coaster Trombi, the family motorcycle launch coaster MotoGee and Hype, a launched steel

Sky Rocket II Sky Rocket II is a steel roller coaster model made by American manufacturer Premier Rides. The first Sky Rocket II was Superman: Ultimate Flight at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, which opened on June 30, 2012, and the latest is Sky Loop at Riyadh Wi ...

coaster, and family coaster Vauhtimato ("Speedy Worm"). The half-pipe coaster called Half Pipe was recently removed due to multiple reasons. Särkänniemi is owned by the city of Tampere and attracts about 1,100,000 visitors annually. Särkänniemi is the biggest rival for

as the lead amusement park in Finland. Both are about the same size. The park gave up the

dolphinarium A dolphinarium is an aquarium for dolphins. The dolphins are usually kept in a pool, though occasionally they may be kept in pens in the open sea, either for research or public performances. Some dolphinariums consist of one pool where dolphins pe ...

in 2016 and the dolphins were safely transported to

Attica Zoological Park Attica Park, officially Attica Zoological Park (AZP), is a private zoo located in the suburb of Spata, approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) east of Athens, Greece. It is the only zoo in Greece. The zoo is home to more than 1,500 animals repr ...

in Greece. The park has more than 30 rides and attractions. There are also two water rides in the park, a log flume called Tukkijoki and a river rapids called Koskiseikkailu. Särkänniemi has been voted several times as the best leisure center and the greatest amusement park in Finland.Särkänniemi 50 vuotta - katso kuvakooste suosikkikohteen vuosikymmenten varrelta!
– ''

Iltalehti ''Iltalehti'' (literally "Evening newspaper") is a tabloid newspaper published in Helsinki, Finland. History and profile ''Iltalehti'' was established in 1980 as afternoon edition of newspaper '' Uusi Suomi''. Alma Media is the owner of ''Ilta ...

'' (in Finnish) In the future, a

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

and spa with restaurants and water experiences are planned around the amusement park, as well as new apartments. It will also be possible to travel to the area by

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ...

in the future as part of the

Tampere light rail The Tampere light rail ( fi, Tampereen raitiotie), branded as Tampere Tram ( fi, Tampereen Ratikka), is a public transport system in Tampere, Finland. In November 2016, the Tampere city council approved plans to construct a 330-million-euro lig ...

network.

History

This multi-purpose park is owned by the city of Tampere and boasts a variety of rides as well as both Aquarium and Planetarium was opened in 1969, a children's zoo that opened in 1970, a 168m tall

Observation Tower An observation tower is a structure used to view events from a long distance and to create a full 360 degree range of vision to conduct long distance observations. Observation towers are usually at least tall and are made from stone, iron, an ...

that opened in 1971, The Sara Hilden Art Museum opened in 1979, and the Dolphinarium opened in 1985. The amusement park aspect of Särkänniemi started in 1973 with the opening of Neulan Huvipuisto (Neula Amusement Park); in the beginning the park offered only a handful of children's rides. In 1975 the city of Tampere took over the operations of the fun park and integrated it into other attractions on the peninsula. Located on the peninsula, about a kilometre from the city centre of Tampere, that juts out into the Black Gulf. The area used to house three different breweries in the 18th century onward and in the 20th century a huge warehouse serving the log industry was built on the peninsula of Särkänniemi. These buildings were demolished in the 1960s. The park is easily accessible by bus lines 4 and 16. The 25-acre amusement park is not divided into specifically themed sections although one area is called Kiddie Land and in 2012 an Angry Birds Land was opened.

Rides

Operating Coasters

Defunct Coasters

Flat rides

*X – Giant Discovery Revolution rotating 360° pendulum ride that opened in 2016; height limit 1.4m. Zamperla. *High Voltage – Power Surge, high-impact thrill ride that opened in 2014; height limit is 1.3m. Zamperla. *Waka – Disk'O Coaster that opened in 2009; height limit 1.2m. Zamperla. *Take Off – Breakdance spinner that opened in 2006; height limit 1.3m. Huss. *BOOM – Zamperla Z-Max drop tower that opened in 2019; height limit 1.4m. Zamperla.

Water rides

*Rapids Ride – this Rapids Adventure ride was opened in 1999. Intamin; a 6-passenger boat journeys a 490 meters course with a tunnel and a waterfall. *Log River – a log flume ride that opened in 1982. Reverchon, Tamperer; a 400 meter long course with 3 drops, the highest of which is 13 m tall.

Other rides

*Audi Racing – bumper cars that opened in 1986. Reverchon. *Funny House – walkthrough *Gazebo – swing ride that opened in 1996. Gerstlauer. *Hurricane – giant swing that opened in 1991; height limit 1.2m. Mondial. *Planetarium – opened in 1969. *Troika – troika spinner ride that opened in 1975; height limit 1m. Huss. *Viking Ship – swinging Viking ship that opened in 1988. Zierer. *Ilmaveivi – wave swinger that opened in 1989. Zierer.

Kiddie rides

*Angry Birds – play area with kiddie rides that opened in 2012. Lappset / Rovio. *Angry Birds Obstacle Course – obstacle course that opened in 2012. Lappset. *Angry Birds Ride – Zamperla jump around that opened in 2012. Zamperla. *Bounce Castel – bouncy castle for kids only. *Candy Carousel – merry go round that opened in 1993.

Bertazzon Bertazzon is an amusement ride manufacturing company based in Sernaglia della Battaglia, Italy. The company produces a variety of flat rides including bumper cars, carousels, swing rides, Matterhorns, Musik Expresses and dark ride systems. H ...

. *Coffee Cups – spinning cups for kids only. Soriani&Moser. *Convoy Truck Race – convoy trucks for kids only. Cosetto. *Crazy Bus – crazy bus ride. Zamperla. *Lady Bird – roundabout. Modern Products. *Little Ladybird – mini roundabout for young kids only. Modern Products. *Magic Bikes – magic bike ride that opened in 2008. Zamperla. *Mushroom Race – roundabout ride. Modern Products. *Old Timers – on track cars that opened in 1981. Ihle. *Pavilion Carousel – carousel for kids. Modern Products. *Piggy Train – mini train for kids only that opened in 1994. Zamperla. *Pirate Ship – small swinging pirate ship. Modern Products. *Red Baron – airplanes. Soriani & Moser. *Regatta – roundabout boat ride. Soriani & Moser. *Rocking Tug – rocking tug ride that opened in 2004. Zamperla. *Turtle Train – mini train for kids only that opened in 1999. Zamperla.

Other attractions

*The Aquarium at Särkänniemi was opened in 1969. It has a total combined aquarium volume of , and is home to more than 3,000 animals representing 200 species. The lower floor of the aquarium includes a

mangrove swamp Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangroves cannot withstand fre ...

habitat that is home to monos, archer fish, gourami fish,

rainbow shark The rainbow shark (''Epalzeorhynchos frenatum'') is a species of Southeast Asian freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae. It is also known as the ruby shark, red-fin shark, red-finned shark, rainbow sharkminnow, green fringelip labeo, whitefin ...

s and blowfish. *The Children's Zoo that opened in 1970 has over 30 different species of animals on show. *Näsinneula Observation Tower that opened in 1971 is 168 meters tall and it has a restaurant on the top floor. *Sara Hilden Art Museum opened in 1979 and has on display works from mostly contemporary Finnish artists. *Creepy Carnival is a horror-themed festival held annually in autumn.Creepy Carnival
– Särkänniemi (in English)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sarkanniemi Amusement parks in Finland Buildings and structures in Tampere Aquaria in Finland Tourist attractions in Tampere 1975 establishments in Finland Parks and attractions with Angry Birds exhibits Amusement parks opened in 1975