Savo-Karjala Excursion 2025 Kuopio

29.04.2025 - 29.04.2025 |Kuopio

Savo-Karjala Excursion is one of the most famous and popular May Day celebration traditions of the Student Union (ISYY). The first Savo-Karjala Excursion was organized in 1990. During the Savo-Karjala Excursion, students circle around Eastern Finland (North Savo and North Karelia regions) on buses on a predetermined route, which will remain a secret until the buses start their journey, and enjoy refreshments in different bars and restaurants along the way (please note that the event is intended for adults only). The buses will stop at different locations giving students a chance to enjoy some refreshments and at one location food (the refreshments/food are not included in the price of the tour). 

The stops during the Excursion last around 30 minutes each and there is one longer stop in the middle of the trip so that participants can eat. The whole event lasts for approximately nine (9) hours after which there is an official afterparty at Apteekkari. The price of the ticket includes the official overall badge of the event, the bus trip and the afterparty. You can get to the after-party by showing the event's overall badge!

Tickets and registration

Ticket sales start on Thursday 3 April at 8:00 am at ISYY office (in Studentia building, C entrance, Yliopistonranta 3). The remaining tickets, if there are any, will go on sale on Kide.app on Friday 4 April at 11:00 am. The seats for the alumni bus can be bought from Kide.app, and you can also sign up for the bus in advance by emailing (yk(at)isyy.fi). The ticket sale for the alumni bus on Kide.app starts on Friday 4 April at 11:00 am. Regardless of the situation, half of the seats on the alumni bus (Bus 9) are reserved for Kide.app sales.

The ticket price is 20 €. There is a limit of two tickets per person so you can register yourself and one friend. You need to inform your (and your friend’s) name, phone number, e-mail address, major subject/student association and UEF study right number as you register. The tickets cannot be returned, but tickets bought in Kide.app can be sent to another user.

All tickets are sold per bus and the bus departure times are listed below. At the departure time, you must be in a parking lot between Lukema and Snellmania no later than 10 minutes before the departure time of your own bus. The Buses don't wait for latecomers.

Busses and departure times:

• Bus 1 - Departure time at 11.00 am. Bus executives: Elli Hyvärinen & Julia Ranta (Hyeena)
• Bus 2 - Departure time at 11.25 am. Bus executives: Eetu Räihä & Mikko Sipola (Kvantti & Kulti)
• Bus 3 - Departure time at 11.50 am. Bus executives: Emmi Korhonen & Linda Kyntäjä (Kulti)
• Bus 4 - Departure time at 12.15 pm. Bus executives: Christian Krühn & Oliver Perko (Serveri)
• Bus 5 - Departure time at 12.40 pm. Bus executives: Anna Heino & Piia Iivanainen (Retikka)
• Bus 6 - Departure time at 01.05 pm. Bus executives: Jutta Huitula & Venni Eronen (Socius)
• Bus 7 - Departure time at 01.30 pm. Bus executives: Atte Kivipato & Bettina Dufva (Fortis)
• Bus 8 - Departure time at 01.55 pm. Bus executives: Edvin Polus & Ville Salokangas (KuoLO)
• Bus 9 (alumni) - Departure time at 02.20 pm. Bus executives: Miia Kulmala & Simo Heikkinen

Queuing for tickets

In Kuopio, students have traditionally queued for Savo-Karjala Excursion tickets for a few hours before the ticket sale starts. KIVES (Kuopion Intellektuelli Vapunedistämisseura, aka ISYY’s May Day Club) organizes the official queuing for tickets on April 3th starting from the early hours of the morning and is there to supervise the queuing. If you want your name to be on the waiting list for tickets, visit the tent outside Lukema and ask for a Board member of KIVES.

Students who have reserved a place for themselves on the waiting list are expected to be there queuing the entire time after they have added their name to the list so please dress warmly. KIVES checks at random times whether the students on the list are still present and if they cannot find someone, their name will be removed from the waiting list. (Bathroom breaks inside the ISYY office are naturally allowed while waiting!) The queue is formed in the morning in front of Lukema according to the waiting list before the office opens at 8 am.

Meal Tickets

You can buy advance tickets for Excursion’s buffet dining from Thursday 3 April to Sunday 20 April. You can buy meal tickets at the ISYY office or on kide.app. Advance tickets cost 8€. After that the meal tickets cost 10€ and you can buy tickets until the evening of the trip. It is also possible to pay your meal directly to the restaurant when you arrive, and in this case the price of the meal is 11€.

This year’s Excursion’s menu includes for example salad bar, meatballs in cream sauce, potato wedges, tofu and beetroot stew, and dessert. All special dietary needs will be taken into consideration for those who buy the meal ticket either at the ISYY office or from Kide.app by Sunday 20 April. Even though you can pay your meal at the restaurant, we highly recommend buying the meal ticket by Sunday 20 April to make sure there will be enough food.

Read more:

Facebook.com, opens in a new tab: Kuopio Savo-Karjala excursio 2025 Facebook event
Kide.app, opens in a new tab: The event and ticket sales on Kide.app
Kide.app, opens in a new tab: Meal ticket sales on Kide.app

More information:

Eveliina Scharin, Community Coordinator, Student Union of the University of Eastern Finland (ISYY), yk(at)isyy.fi, tel. +358 44 576 8408

Piritta Pennanen, Executive Board member, Student Union of the University of Eastern Finland (ISYY), piritta.pennanen(at)isyy.fi