The Finnish sauna that won’t sit still

On 16 March, Tampere took its sauna culture for a spin – literally! The city’s first-ever sauna on an ice carousel was built on the frozen shore of Tahmela Villa, giving sauna-goers the unique chance to sweat it all out while gently rotating on the lake.

The mastermind behind the event was Finnish entrepreneur Janne Käpylehto, who already holds the world record for the largest ice carousel. Armed with heavy-duty ice-busting tools and a bold vision, Käpylehto had been closely monitoring the ice conditions in the lead-up to the event. And thanks to the recent frosty nights, construction was able to go ahead as planned.

“Ice conditions were just right, about 25cm of ice, which was plenty and fairly fast to cut,” Käpylehto told Arctic Today. “The plan was to build just one sauna, but the demand was so high that we ended up building four – two on the carousel and two on the land.”

Joining him in the effort was Alex Lembke, a familiar face in Finland’s sauna scene from Tahmela Villa and Rajaportti, who brought his expertise to the build.

All afternoon until sunset, visitors enjoyed a one-of-a-kind sauna experience, combining traditional Finnish heat with the thrill of gently spinning around a frozen lake. At the heart of each tent sauna was a sturdy Finnish Narvi stove to hold the heat steady, even as the views around kept changing.

The city of Tampere already boasts more than 50 public saunas, higher than any other Finnish city and testimony to Finland’s rich sauna culture, which is recognized on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list.