Every year, the Tampere City awards the Cultural achievement of the year prize to an individual or organization that has developed, enriched, and diversified cultural life in Tampere through their existence or activities. Nominations for the Cultural achievement of the year 2025 were collected through an online survey open to everyone between 15 December 2025 and 11 January 2026. A total of 418 nominations were received.
– I would like to thank everyone who submitted their suggestions via the online survey. The committee had several good options to choose from, and Tampere’s role-playing and anime event Tracon was selected as this year’s winner. Tracon is a unique and diverse event that is organized entirely by volunteers. Over the years, it has grown and developed into a favorite among the general public. Tracon is an excellent example of the Tampere spirit and an event that supports the goals of the mayor's program and the Tampere strategy, says Anne-Mari Jussila, Deputy Mayor for Education and Culture.
Organized by the non-profit Tracon ry, the event has been delighting role-playing and anime enthusiasts in Tampere since 2005. Organizers Tiina Uusi-Rasi, Teemu Koho, Kyuu Eturautti, and Karo Leikomaa were pleasantly surprised by the selection.
– Tampere has a lot to offer in terms of culture, so winning the award is not a given. At first, we thought that Tracon would only interest a few hundred people, but now thousands of visitors attend, say Tiina Uusi-Rasi and Teemu Koho.
Tracon, which began at Tampere University of Technology and is now held at Tampere Hall, is more popular than ever. The previous event attracted a total of around 22 000 visitors.
Tracon offers a very diverse program. The event features board games, interviews, soft sword fighting, theater, screenings, exploratory character analyses, and even presentations of academic theses. Many of the program items are requested and suggested by the visitors themselves.
The organizers of Tracon receive a lot of praise and positive feedback from visitors for the professional production of the event. Several people work for Tracon.
– Tracon has around 1 500 volunteers, including event vendors and other participants. Around 70 people work year-round for Tracon, says Karo Leikomaa and Kyuu Eturautti.
Over the years, Tracon has become a familiar meeting place for role-playing and anime enthusiasts, where safety and comfort are taken into account as much as possible. For example, Tracon was one of the first in Finland to adopt anti-harassment policies and safe space principles, and to appoint harassment liaison officers and accessibility officers. The organizers consistently receive positive feedback about the event being a place where people can be themselves without being judged by others.
– Parents, among others, feel confident letting their children go to Tracon to meet their online friends for the first time because they know how much we invest in the safety and comfort of the event, explains Uusi-Rasi.
The next Tracon will be held on 4–6 September 2026, and a preliminary use for the new cultural award has already been found.
– We will probably use the prize money for activities open to everyone in the Sorsapuisto area, so that everyone in Tampere and beyond can enjoy the event in an accessible way, say the organizers.
The culture awards ceremony will be held at the Raatihuone in April 2026.
