Imatrankoski Rapids
Experience the foaming rapids
The Rapids shows in 2025:
- May 24th at 6 PM Imatrankoski Summer Opening event
- June: 1.6., 7.6., 8.6., 14.6., 15.6., 25. – 29.6. at 6 PM
- July – August: 2.7. – 31.8. From Wednesday to Sunday at 6 PM
- October 17th & 18th and 24th & 25th at 6 PM
- December 6th at 4 PM Finland's Independence Day music by the Finlandia hymn
- December 31th at 8 PM New Year's Eve
Changes to the schedule are possible. It is always advisable to check the schedule closer to the planned date imatrankoski.fi
Imatrankoski rapids were formed 5,000 years ago when the land rose after the Ice Age and Lake Saimaa waters tore the Salpauselkä ridge apart. Imatrankoski was a famous tourist attraction already 300 years ago, and at the end of the 19th century, it was considered one of Europe’s most popular attractions. Many famous people visited Imatrankoski at that time and the tourism in Imatra is considered to have begun in 1772 when Empress Catherine II of Russia and her retinue came to admire this magnificent play of the water in the narrow waterway.
The Rapids show lasts approx. 16 minutes. Eight minutes after the flood gates are opened, the foams reach their peak with an average of 400 cubic metres of water per second flowing in the stream. In the summer surge of the rapids will be accompanied by music of Jean Sibelius or the Whitewater Symphony by the Osmo's Cosmos band.
Rapids are nowadays blocked by a dam, but during the summer there are daily shows when the dam is opened. The show is a very popular and free event gathering always hundreds of people to see magnificent nature show. Imatrankoski Rapids is also part of Saimaa UNESCO Global Geopark. Read more
