Pikku Kakkonen summer tour draws record 10,000 in Hämeenlinna

A free children’s cultural event tied to Yle’s Pikku Kakkonen summer tour drew an estimated 10,000 visitors to Kantola event park in Hämeenlinna on Thursday evening, according to producer Jyrki Laaksonen.

Laaksonen described the figure as a cautious estimate, pending a final count from drone footage. He called the turnout a record for the tour, which has visited Salo, Kotka, and Ruokolahti earlier this summer, drawing 8,500–9,000 in Salo and roughly 5,000 in each of the other two towns.

The event’s popularity caused severe congestion in Hämeenlinna’s city centre, the Kantola area, and major access roads from around 16:00. The concert start was delayed by about 30 minutes to allow more attendees to arrive.

Laaksonen attributed the traffic to large numbers of visitors travelling by car from Helsinki and Tampere, noting that this was the first time this summer the tour had caused such congestion in a host city.

The tour concludes in Kauhava on Saturday, 4 July. Over four summers, the Leikitään Pikku Kakkosta events have attracted 125,000 visitors.