Saarijärvi and Äänekoski offer free stays to attract residents

Yle reports that the Central Finnish towns of Saarijärvi and Äänekoski are offering free hotel stays and information packages to people considering moving there. Nearly 100 people expressed interest in the autumn recruitment event.

The towns are facing significant population declines. Forecasts indicate that Saarijärvi’s population will fall by 26.4 per cent and Äänekoski’s by 23 per cent by 2050.

Both towns selected 20 participants for the event. The group includes families with children, couples and individual applicants, with the strongest interest coming from the Helsinki metropolitan area and other large cities.

The weekend programme will give participants an introduction to everyday life, housing options, services, hobbies and employment opportunities in the towns. It will include shared activities as well as opportunities to explore areas of individual interest, such as nature, culture and housing.

The campaign also involves social media influencers. Investor and investment influencer Merja Mähkä, as well as journalist and non-fiction author Julia Thurén, will take part in the weekends.

Project manager Mari Saarinen said the number of applicants was a positive surprise. The towns received around 40 applications by the deadline, while nearly 100 people expressed interest in the event overall.

“The purpose of the event is to give people a sense of what it would be like to live in Saarijärvi or Äänekoski. I have not heard of anything quite similar elsewhere,” Saarinen said.

The applicants were assessed for their genuine interest in the towns and how well they had familiarised themselves with the areas. Many had already researched local services and considered issues such as housing, schools for their children or starting a business.

“The goal is for the visitors to become interested in moving to the towns permanently. At the same time, we want to raise awareness of the towns,” Saarinen said.

The event is part of the Smart Villages of Central Towns project, which has received 270,000 euros in funding from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. The project is administered by the towns of Äänekoski and Saarijärvi, while most of the funding comes from the regional vitality centre and the European Union.

The towns’ own costs are therefore limited. The familiarisation weekend will take place in Saarijärvi in late September and in Äänekoski in early October.