Tampere Eyes €100,000 Cut to Valoviikot and End to Sorsapuisto Birdhouse Funding

The proposed 2027 budget would trim €100,000 from the Valoviikot light festival and eliminate €30,000 in funding for the Sorsapuisto birdhouse, part of roughly €800,000 in additional savings the community board has put forward. The package also includes a €300,000 reduction in purchased urban planning services. That could slow zoning work, Aamulehti reports.

Deputy Mayor Ilkka Porttikivi said the birdhouse is not a statutory service or a major tourist draw, and that "It is not the city's job to provide chickens to citizens." He also stressed Hämeenkatu will not be left dark if the street's decorative light curtains are scaled back, and said organisers may shorten the festival or change how lights are installed to lower costs.

The proposal follows earlier local debate about the bird enclosures in Sorsapuisto after a councillor suggested closing them over welfare concerns and comes amid other recent cuts to small animal-related municipal grants such as reductions to volunteer animal rescue funding. Final decisions on the 2027 budget will be made by the city council in November.