Tullikamari Reopens After €13.7M Renovation, Adds Basement Level and Backstage Sauna

Tullikamari in Tampere has completed a €13.7 million, cellar-to-roof renovation after a year and eight months of work. The project added a new basement level, a spacious artist green room with a sauna and improved accessibility, YLE reports. The reopening follows an earlier report that the renovation was on schedule to finish by the end of August 2026 and reopen for the Tampere Jazz Happening.

The historic shell was left largely intact. The protected building was refurbished with minimal visible changes to its exterior, with renewed technical systems, improved acoustics and upgraded presentation technology, and a glazed new entrance facing Tullinaukio that can house ticket sales. Production manager Lotta Ahtinen of Tampereen Kulttuurikamari said the Pakkahuone hall’s old windows were restored and the venue’s colour scheme refreshed. Accessibility was a priority: a lowered section of the bar, lifts to stage and backstage, automatic door openers for heavy doors and unisex toilets were included.

Janne Laurila, programme chief at Tampereen Kulttuurikamari, said the venue’s calendar is already full into 2027. The first reopened shows are scheduled for late October and early November, when Tampere Jazz Happening resumes events in Pakkahuone and Klub. Tampere facilities, which oversaw parts of the project, said the new backstage kitchen and sauna are currently unfurnished.