€40,000 Donation Extends Messukylä Old Church Café's Summer Hours

Messukylä's historic church coffee kiosk will extend its summer opening hours after hiring extra young staff, following a €40,000 donation from Lähitapiola in April, Tamperelainen reports.

The red kiosk on the Messukylä Old Church lawn will be open on several days from June through August. A guide will be available in the church during opening hours, and the kiosk will serve customers on concert nights. The site is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. On the busiest days the kiosk serves more than 80 customers.

Katja Rantavaara, Messukylä communications coordinator, said in a press release: "We want to preserve and develop the valuable surroundings of Messukylä Old Church as a lively and beautiful place for resting, meeting and refreshment."

This summer the church will also act as a road church for the first time. Organisers hope the programme will draw new visitors to the 16th-century stone building.

The extended hours follow the church's reopening for the summer in early June, when concerts, services and guided cemetery tours resumed and the courtyard kiosk's hours were expanded the church's early‑June reopening.