Oulu builds stage over river for cultural year finale

Oulu is building a large performance stage over the Oulujoki River for one of the main events of its cultural year, Yle reports.

The stage will be used during the Delta Life festival weekend from August 27 to 29. The free, three-day outdoor event will feature music, circus, dance and the Air Guitar World Championships.

The event is being held around the Pokkinen channel, at the historic sites where the city was founded. Organisers expect about 7,000 visitors each day.

Finnish design and production company Sun Effects is responsible for the construction. Technical designer Niko Mattila said the project was unusual even for a company that has produced large events and visual experiences in different conditions around the world.

“We have never held an event in such an unusual location before,” Mattila said. “We have created works in water, but we have never designed or built a stage structure this large.”

The stage was originally planned as a more permanent wooden structure, but there were not enough resources to build it. The current structure will be dismantled after the event and is made from the same type of scaffolding used in facade renovations. The construction materials alone weigh an estimated 30 tonnes.

Engineers have carried out strength calculations and examined electrical safety, the river’s currents, the shape of the riverbed and the ground materials. Mattila said the structure was not expected to sink.

Performers will receive safety instructions, and the event will be monitored for changing weather conditions. Performances may be interrupted if the wind becomes too strong. A wind meter will be monitored continuously, and performances must stop if gusts reach 15 metres per second.

Event producer Anu Lähteenmäki did not disclose the cost of the stage but estimated that the full Delta Life event, which has been in preparation for several years, will cost about one million euros.