Mysteries take over Sampola on 13 November 2026 – free admission

The Adult Education Centre and Sampola Library will host Sampola Mystery Night on Friday, 13 November 2026, from 5 pm to 11 pm, offering free activities for detectives of all ages.

Children aged 4–7 can put their detective skills to the test from 5 pm to 6 pm in the Could You Be a Detective? activity, where they will solve a playful crime by following clues and interviewing witnesses. Children aged 8–12 can take on the Mystery of the Missing Saimaa Ringed Seal from 5 pm to 8 pm.

A mystery-themed crafts workshop will be open in the Sampola lobby until 9 pm. Until 9 pm, visitors can also try 3D printing with mystery and suspense-themed designs at the library’s Tekomo makerspace.

Author Reetta Vuokko-Syrjänen will lead two writing workshops in Ritva Hall during the evening. In the story workshop for children aged 4–12, held from 5.15 pm to 6.45 pm, participants will write and draw mysteries of their own. The writing workshop for young people and adults, from 7 pm to 8.30 pm, will explore how to create a compelling mystery and give participants the chance to develop one of their own.

A real-life crime mystery takes us back 100 years

A Police Museum lecture in Sampola’s Glass Room from 6 pm to 7 pm will introduce the audience to one of the most unusual cases in Finnish criminal history. The lecture explores a long-unsolved crime that took place in Tattarisuo and became a major media sensation in the early 1930s. The audience will hear how the case, which was eventually revealed to involve an occult ritual, was solved. The lecture will be given by Juha Vitikainen.

The mystery theme continues with book recommendations in the library hall from 7 pm to 8 pm, featuring stories in which time becomes distorted, reality goes awry and the world behaves in strange ways.

From a mystery quiz to a Joose Keskitalo concert

The Mystery Quiz, held in the library hall from 8 pm to 9 pm, will test participants’ knowledge of real and fictional mysteries and the people behind them. The winner will receive a book prize.

At 9 pm, musician Joose Keskitalo will perform in the library. The Savonlinna-based singer-songwriter combines elements of folk, ethnic music, progressive rock and jazz. The event will also feature an interview with Keskitalo. The concert can also be watched live on Tampere City Library’s YouTube channel.

Sampola Mystery Night will conclude from 10.30 pm to 11 pm with a bedtime story for adults, guaranteed to bring restless dreams.

The Adult Education Centre celebrates the spring season with a gift voucher hunt

The Adult Education Centre’s new courses for the spring season will be published on Friday, 13 November 2026. To celebrate the new spring programme, the Adult Education Centre will hide 15 passes around Sampola Mystery Night. Anyone who finds one can use it to claim a course gift voucher worth €30.00 from The Adult Education Centre’s customer service, following the instructions provided.

The passes entitling their finders to gift vouchers will be hidden in publicly accessible and accessible locations.

Art and refreshments in the Sampola lobby

Students from Tammerkoski Upper Secondary School will sell their handicrafts and works of art in the Sampola lobby during Mystery Night. Depending on the seller, payment can be made by MobilePay or cash.

The Adult Education Centre of the Tampere Region’s student association will run a café in the lobby throughout the event. The café accepts cash, card payments and MobilePay.

The event follows safer space principles.

Sampola Mystery Night is organised jointly by the Adult Education Centre of the Tampere Region, Tampere City Library, the City Culture Unit and Tammerkoski Upper Secondary School. The programme at Sampola Mystery Night will be in Finnish.