Seiterä

The Seiterä Funfair tour begins early in spring, in the beginning of April. We'll be on the road until the end of September. The winter is spent at the funfair depot during which we perform major equipment maintenance, repairs and paint jobs, as well as plan our next tour. During the tour the funfair is moving on many trucks and lorries across Finland, gathering thousands of kilometres in the milometer.

During the tour we live at the funfair and become familiar with the locations we visit. Usually we spend one week at each location, though sometimes the visit may last a fortnight.  When we arrive at a new location it takes us one whole day to set up the funfair. At the end of the setting up day we check the rides, test drive them and freshen up after the journey.  During the visiting week we always check and test drive all rides daily before opening and any necessary maintenance is performed during the day.  When it's time to continue the journey to the next location, the funfair is packed up just as quickly and the convoy is back on the road.

History of Seiterä Funfair

Pictured: Lauri Seiterä, the founder of Seiterä Funfair (1915-1992). Lauri Seiterä, born in Terijoki, was originally named Sederholm, but during the Finnish national movement he changed his name to Seiterä. Another well known person from Terijoki, J.A.F. Gröönroos, had earlier changed his name to a Finnish Sariola. Lauri Seiterä's mother worked for Sariola in Kerava and naturally Lauri also found his way to Sariola's funfair. During the war Lauri Seiterä was promoted to senior lieutenant, but during the final stages of the war he was seriously wounded.

After he was discharged from hospital in 1946 Mr. Seiterä returned to the funfair field with the Children's Day organisation. Linnanmäki did not exist at the time. The funfair was located in Messukenttä  in Helsinki, but toured also elsewhere in Finland. When Linnanmäki was founded in 1950, Lauri Seiterä was one of its central figures. He had many different games in the park, such as shooting, ring tossing, cannon game and bombing game.

In 1951 Lauri Seiterä opens one of the most famous attractions in Linnanmäki, the Mermaid Hall. Super-popular Mermaid Hall continued in Linnanmäki right to the end of the summer 1981, after which Linnanmäki built its own amusement arcade in its place.

	In 1965 Lauri Seiterä bought the old Dodgems from Linnanmäki, thus creating the basis for his own touring funfair. The operations started in 1966 with the name Seiterä Amusement Park and in the first year the rides included, in addition to the Dodgems, Vauhtivirveli carousel and many games. The rides were transported on tractors and by train. During the years Seiterä also displayed many free performances, such as death jumps and trapeze fights.
	In 1973 Lauri Seiterä, with his friend Leo Lindblom, hired an area in Särkänniemi for the funfair for the whole summer from the city of Tampere. It was called Neula Amusement Park. The trial was supposed to last only for one summer, but because the Amusement Park was a success, they carried on the following year. In 1975 Särkänniemi Amusement Park opened at the site.
	In 1991 Lauri and Johanna Seiterä's son Tuomo Seiterä took over the managerial responsibilities for the funfair.  He carries on with his work in Seiterä Funfair with his wife, Mari Seiterä.