Being empty, the Korkeavuorenkatu dance stage may have gone unnoticed by many townspeople. In the evenings, however, it attracts dancers and curious eyes.
Before cars could drive directly in front of the museum in Helsinki. Now there is a dance stage and a grass oasis with wooden swings. HS went to the site to see what it was all about and to ask the locals what they thought of the new environment.
It’s a little after four in the afternoon and there is a serene atmosphere in front of the Helsinki Design Museum on Korkeavuorenkatu. The sun is appropriately shining right in front of the museum, where there are people reading and chatting on wooden swings, and the summer terrace is just opening its counter.
Anja, 74, enjoys a summer day reading a book on a wooden swing.
“I used to always go to Kaivopuisto to sit and read, but now I like coming here. I think this is really nice to be able to read here. I already went here last year, the parks are often so shady,” says 74-year-old Anja, who enjoys the sun while reading a book on a wooden swing.
He has also been able to watch the dancing on stage. At this time of the afternoon, the stage is still empty.
“A couple of evenings I’ve seen dancing in it. The first time there were only a few people, but the second time there was already a bigger group. They were from some dance school,” he says.
Anja thinks that the dance stage is a nice addition to the environment and she likes watching people dance on the stage, but she also notes that it takes up a lot of space.
“I think they could announce when it happens here. My knees won’t let me dance anymore, but it would be nice if someone could see when there are dances here, so you could come and watch,” he reflects.
Hanna Ruohomaa, 29, describes the mood on Korkeavuorenkatu as downright Central European.
Also Enjoy the sunshine at the outdoor tables of Ravintola Badger & Co, which is located next to the design museum. 29-year-old from Helsinki Hanna Ruohomaa regrets that he didn’t happen to be there when the dances were going on.
“We live very close to here, but we hadn’t noticed that there was activity there. Maybe once in passing I’ve paid attention to it, even though we’ve visited the Design Museum many times,” he says.
Ruohomaa wonders if he would dare to step on the stage to dance when the opportunity arises.
“If there were a lot of people, you could go dancing with a friend, but otherwise I wouldn’t dare, at least not on a weekday when it’s full,” he says with a laugh.
However, Ruohomaa hopes that people would dare to dance on stage, because Finns often have a big threshold to be the first to get on stage. He also likes that the street is a little different.
“It’s almost a Central European atmosphere here, with the stage and the terrace and the swings and everything,” he admires.
Bar there is already a small queue at the counter from the afternoon.
47-year-old bartender Riku Hailio can tell that the stage was built by the city of Helsinki, and that on Tuesdays and Wednesdays the stage is used by the dance school.
The dance stage to be erected by the City of Helsinki is located right next to the Design Museum. Next door is also the summer terrace of Restaurant Badger & Co.
If you want to know when things will be happening on stage, you can find information on the Varaamo calendar of the city of Helsinki. Unfortunately, the calendar does not show which party has reserved the stage.
“Our own music always ends when there is action on stage, and of course it disturbs us to some extent when we don’t know what will happen on stage,” says Hailio.
Some of the dancers also go to the terrace during the dances, but otherwise the stage has not caused the crowd to rush to the terrace.
“That space reserved by the city could also be our drinking area. The norm for the consumer is not really clear, which is the serving area, when there is also a seating area outside our area”, he describes.
However, Hailio considers the operation of the stage to be clear and says that people enjoy being able to dance on stage and listen to music in the middle of Helsinki.
Kasarmikatu’s summer oasis is part of Helsinki’s Summer Streets, with which the city wants to create comfortable environments and pay particular attention to pedestrians.
In addition to Kasarmikatu, summer streets also include Pieni Roobertinkatu and Erottajankatu. The City of Helsinki started organizing Kesäkatu in 2022.
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