Almost 2,900 children sign up for Tampere's free Lupa harrastaa programme

By Tuesday morning nearly 2,900 children had registered for Tampere's free Lupa harrastaa activity groups for grades 1–4, according to Aamulehti.

By that time the city's younger-school calendar listed 259 groups and 2,856 sign-ups. Swimming, cooking and animal-related activities proved the most popular. Some sessions quickly developed long waiting lists. One cooking group had 28 children queued, the Teivo racetrack riding school showed 15 on the list, and an Ahvenisjärvi cooking session had nine. Annika Urvikko, the programme manager, said parents log on at 18:00 trying to secure places.

To ease pressure on the registration system, Tampere split sign-ups over two days: grades 1 to 4 registered on Monday and pupils in grades 5 to 9 could sign up from 18:00 on Tuesday. The city plans about 440 Lupa harrastaa and Lupa treenata groups this school year. Of these, 261 groups are listed for older pupils.

Some activities still have open spots, especially in certain basketball and ice-hockey groups, but animal and cooking sessions are constrained by costs and a shortage of providers. Parents are encouraged to join waiting lists since places can free up if someone declines.

The sign-up rush follows earlier scenes this summer when free park lunches in Hervanta ran out after heavy demand.