Sulkava Rowing Race

Church boats are long wooden rowing boats that Finnish lake parishes used to carry congregations to Sunday services, and the Sulkava rowing race has been run in them since 1968: crews of fourteen rowers and a coxswain, circling a course of sixty or seventy kilometres around an island in Lake Saimaa over a weekend in July, alongside shorter races and single-scull events. It draws thousands of competitors and many more spectators to a village of a few thousand people, and the atmosphere is somewhere between a sporting event and a festival, with a sauna culture, camping and music around it. Boats can be hired and crews are often assembled from workplaces and families.

What you actually see

• Fourteen-oar church boats - the traditional craft the race is rowed in.
• A sixty-kilometre lake course - the long race around the island.
• Thousands of competitors - crews from across the country.
• The festival around the racing - camping, saunas and music.

When to go

A weekend in July; the dates are announced well in advance. A weekend. Accommodation anywhere near Sulkava is booked months ahead; camping is the usual answer.

Honest expectations

It happens on one weekend a year and there is nothing to see at other times. Accommodation in the area disappears months in advance. The village is small and services are overwhelmed. Competing requires a crew and a boat arranged well ahead.

Nearby

Savonlinna is east; Mikkeli lies west.