Pori: jazz on the banks of the Kokemäenjoki River

On the western coast of rural Finland, Pori hosts every summer one of the most celebrated and appreciated jazz festivals in all of northern Europe.

The city center is comfortably walkable on foot or by bicycle, famous for its jazz festival along the Kokemäenjoki River.

The famous Pori Jazz Festival, founded way back in 1966, animates parks and city venues every July with world-famous international artists.

A few minutes away, the Pori Art Museum, housed in a well-restored former industrial building, displays rich collections of contemporary Finnish and international art.

Proceeding toward the coast, one reaches Yyteri, a beach of sandy dunes among the most extensive and unusual in Finland.

As evening approaches, the picturesque Kokemäenjoki riverfront animates city walks with beautiful views of the ancient historic bridges in the center.

The Pori Jazz Festival, among the oldest and most prestigious jazz festivals in all of Europe, has hosted over the decades legends of music like Miles Davis, attracting every year tens of thousands of international visitors.

The Yyteri beach, with wide dunes extending for kilometres along the coast, remains a rare coastal ecosystem in the Gulf of Bothnia, protected as a special natural area.