Kirjurinluoto ( sv, Skrivarsholmen) is an island and a park in the delta of

Kokemäenjoki The Kokemäenjoki ("Kokemäki River", sv, Kumo älv) is a river in southwestern Finland. Geography The river originates at Lake Liekovesi in the Pirkanmaa region, and flows to the Gulf of Bothnia at Pori in the Satakunta region. Primary tributa ...

river in the city of

Pori ) , website www.pori.fi Pori (; sv, Björneborg ) is a city and municipality on the west coast of Finland. The city is located some from the Gulf of Bothnia, on the estuary of the Kokemäki River, west of Tampere, north of Turku and north- ...

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 ...

. It is best known for the Kirjurinluoto Arena, an open-air concert park which hosts the annual

Pori Jazz Pori Jazz is a large international jazz festival, held annually during the month of July in the coastal city of Pori (a population of 82,809 in January 2010), Finland. It is one of the oldest and best known jazz festivals in Europe, having bee ...

festival. Kirjurinluoto is a part of the Pori National Urban Park. At the Kirjurinluoto island are located several facilities like cafés and restaurants, a playground for children, a beach, a

miniature golf Miniature golf, also known as minigolf, mini-putt, crazy golf, or putt-putt, is an offshoot of the sport of golf focusing solely on the putting aspect of its parent game. The aim of the game is to score the lowest number of points. It is played ...

, a

disc golf Disc golf, also known as frisbee golf, is a flying disc sport in which players throw a disc at a target; it is played using rules similar to golf. Most disc golf discs are made out of polypropylene plastic, otherwise known as polypropene, which ...

course and a summer theater.

History

In the latter half of the 19th century Kirjurinluoto island was a recreational area for the wealthy citizens of Pori. The

English landscape garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (french: Jardin à l'anglaise, it, Giardino all'inglese, german: Englischer Landschaftsgarten, pt, Jardim inglês, es, Jardín inglés), is a sty ...

was completed in 1897 by the design of Swedish garden designer Anders Fredrik Rydberg and the

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

style restaurant in 1910. It was drawn by Finnish architect Torkel Nordman. The first stage for musical events and theater plays was built in 1921. The park was later renovated in the 1930s and 1960s. The first bridge to Kirjurinluoto was opened in 1973, a smaller bridge for pedestrians and cyclists in 2001. A temporary bridge for pedestrian use is opened every summer. A new summer theater has been active in Kirjurinluoto since 2008. In the early 1980s the City of Pori held an architecture competition for the design of a congress hall planned in Kirjurinluoto. The competition was won by a Danish architecture firm Kjær & Richter but the construction was never launched.

Concert park

Since 1966 Kirjurinluoto has been the main venue for Pori Jazz Festival which is one of the largest jazz festivals in Europe. A permanent stage, "Lokki" ("The Seagull"), was completed in 1974. Kirjurinluoto Arena is an open-air concert park for audience up to 80,000. It has been the venue for Pori Jazz Festival since 2004 and for

Sonisphere Festival The Sonisphere Festival was a touring rock music festival which took place across Europe between the months of June and August. The festival was owned by John Jackson and Kilimanjaro Live. It was jointly promoted by K2 and Kilimanjaro Live. It ...

in 2009 and 2010,Sonisphere Festival 2009
All Metal Festivals. Retrieved 13 July 2014. as well as for some individual happenings. Today the old Lokki-stage hosts smaller events, such as Porispere rock festival. Over the decades, Kirjurinluoto has been a venue for dozens of international major artists, such as

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harr ...

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist who rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band Santana, which pioneered a fusion of Rock and roll and Latin American jazz. Its sound feature ...

and

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-earth ...

.Artists from A to Z
Pori Jazz Official Homepage. Retrieved 13 July 2014.

Gallery

File:Pori Jazz 2012 2.jpg, Pori Jazz 2012 File:Ankkuri Kirjurin kärjessä 1.jpg, The tip of Kirjurinluoto island File:Kirjurinluodon aasiaitaus.jpg, Donkeys at Kirjurinluoto File:Kirjurinluoto1.JPG, A view from the restaurant File:Pori Pride 2013.JPG, Pori Pride 2013 at Kirjurinluoto File:Pormestarinluodon silta 3.jpg, A pedestrian bridge

References

External links

{{Coord, 61, 29, 34, N, 021, 47, 6, E, type:landmark_region:FI-LS, display=title Parks in Finland Islands of Finland Continental gardens in the English Landscape Garden style Pori Landforms of Satakunta