Vaasa Campus Festival kicks off in celebration of the new academic year

The center of Vaasa will be filled with students on Wednesday, August 31, when the Vaasa Campus Festival kicks off at Vaasa market square at 4 p.m. The opening festival of the academic year is organized by all of the universities and student unions in Vaasa, the Vaasa Student Housing Foundation VOAS and the city of Vaasa. The event is free of charge and is open to everyone who is interested. However, there is an age limit of 18 for the event, as the entire festival area is zoned for serving alcohol.

– Now is the time to celebrate the return of students and the end of the corona break. This is a handshake and praise for all new students and students returning to Vaasa after distance learning. We want to say that you are welcome here in droves, says Sami Korpela, executive director of the Student Union of Vaasa University of Applied Sciences - VAMOK.

There will be international and Finnish top artists as well as Vaasa's rising talents

During the afternoon and evening, both locally and nationally known artists will take the stage. The evening will be closed by Norwegian DJ Tungevaag, who reaches millions of Spotify listens per month.

During the corona break, the festival has grown bigger than ever before. For the first time, the festival was organized in the Palosaari campus area in honor of University of Vaasa’s anniversary in 2018, but the very next year it was moved to Vaasa market square, when all six universities in Vaasa participated in organizing the event: VAMK, University of Vaasa, Hanken, Novia, Åbo Akademi and University of Helsinki. This year there are also more artist signings than in recent years, a total of six. In addition to Tungevaag, the biggest names are represented by the rising domestic R&B star Pihlaja.

– The artists have been chosen so that as many different tastes in music as possible are taken into account. The afternoon will be started by DJ Okki, who has become familiar to the party crowd from Vaasa's nightclubs, and local up-and-coming name Vaasa Palaa, who has already performed at other festivals and received radio play. There are also former and current students of the universities in Vaasa in that band! Taking care of the party atmosphere are up-and-coming Norwegian DJ Kris Winther and Pasi ja Anssi, who represent today's party music very well and whose songs are played heavily on the radio and in nightclubs, says Korpela.

An area full of fun things to do, from a wheel of fortune to a rotating photo booth

One of the event's most significant partners is the Vaasa Student Housing Foundation VOAS, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this autumn and is visibly present in the event area offering small gifts and activities to its residents. In the festival area, there are also activities organized by other partners for everyone to try, such as various speed games, a wheel of fortune and a raffle.

– There are plenty of fun things to do in the area! Most of the activities are completely free of charge, such as the 360-degree rotating photo booth, where you can take atmospheric shots of yourself in the middle of the party, says Korpela.

The festival is a huge effort for VAMOK, which in practice acts as the producer of the event, as well as for other organizers, event workers and background influencers, who in total amount to closer to two hundred people. Up to thousands of students and residents of Vaasa are expected to visit the event to experience the festival atmosphere. The entrance to the festival area is located in the upper market square, in front of the shopping center Rewell and the restaurant VENN.
– You should come early, because the first 1 500 visitors will receive the coveted Vaasa Campus Festival overall patch, Korpela advises.

Vaasa Campus Festival: Program Wed 31.8.

Place: Vaasa market square

16.00 The gates of the event area are opened
16.00 DJ Okki
16.30 Vaasa Palaa
17.50 Speech, Joakim Strand
18.00 Pihlaja
19.10 Kris Winther
20.30 Pasi and Anssi
22.00 Tungevaag
23.00 The main performer finishes and the area is cleared