XVII International Sauna Congress 2018

Dear Sauna friends. The XVII International Sauna Congress is held in the north of Sweden, in the twin cities of Haparanda and Tornio on the border between Sweden and Finland, 7–10 June 2018. The meeting starts with a welcome reception in the evening of 7 June. The congress is organised by the Swedish Sauna Academy and is open to all interested in sauna bathing. Three areas are covered in presentations and workshops: health science, history and culture, and technology and design.

Welcome from the Chairman

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, Congress participants. It is a great honour for the Swedish Sauna Academy to arrange the XVII International Sauna Congress in Sweden. We will do our very best to spread a good sauna culture in the spirit of ISA, and to make sure that you enjoy the land of the midnight sun. The congress will be held at the Torne river, which is also the border between Sweden and Finland, a border originating more than 200 years ago. The sauna culture in Swedish Tornedalen has a lot in common with the Finnish sauna culture, since both sides of the river earlier belonged to the same country, Sweden. This also makes it natural to designate Kukkolaforsen the centre of Swedish sauna culture. Lectures and workshops will be held in Park Hotel, Tornio. The Come Together gathering will be held in Lappari, Tornio. The sauna barbecue on Friday evening and the farewell dinner on Saturday evening will take place in Kukkolaforsen. You will be able to try out some of Kukkolaforsen's 15 saunas and take a swim under the midnight sun in the clean and beautiful Torne river. The Swedish Sauna Academy was founded in 1988 in a sauna in Jukkasjärvi, a village world famous for its Ice Hotel. Our mission is to spread a healthy sauna culture. We proudly note that our 30th anniversary coincides with ISA's 60th anniversary. Be warmly welcome and enjoy the congress. IN SAUNA VERITAS. One sauna a day keeps the doctor away. Göran Honkamaa, President of the Swedish Sauna Academy.

Congress committee: Göran Honkamaa (chairman), Svante Spolander, Hans Hägglund, Roger Häggström, Mats Winsa, Risto Elomaa. The congress fee was SEK 2,400 or EUR 250 and included admission to all seminars and workshops, coffee and lunch on Friday and Saturday, the Get Together evening, the sauna barbecue, the farewell dinner with midnight sun sauna, and all transport between Kukkolaforsen, Haparanda and Tornio. Accommodation was not included. Registration closed on 15 May.

Questions: info@bastuakademien.se ↗

Here you can read full presentations from the lecturers. Among the speakers were Lasse Viinikka, Joy Hussain, Jūratė Paškevičienė, Jesce Walz, Birutė Masiliauskienė, Lassi A Liikkanen, Hans Hägglund, Jari Laukkanen, Anna Artemieva, Mark Timmerman, Kenneth Mikko, Miki Tokairin, Tomas Hjälmeby, Mika Meskanen, Michael B Jensen, Katsuki Tanaka, Miikka Källström, Frederik Otzen Bagger, Mikkel Aaland, Eda Veeroja, Valtteri Nieminen, Sara Porzilli, Sofia Eriksson and Saara Louhensalo.

Lasse Viinikka, Finland: "Sauna and health – what have we learned in the last 60 years?" The topic can be viewed from different angles: Are there health risks involved with the sauna? Can the sauna be used to improve health or cure illness? Jari Laukkanen, Finland: "Sauna bathing and cardiovascular health." Miikka Källström, Sweden: "Effect of sauna bath on heart failure" – infrared sauna was associated with a short-term improvement in BNP, LVEF and cardiothoracic ratio. Joy Hussain, Australia: "The health effects of regular dry sauna bathing." Mark Timmerman, USA: "The Heat Prescription: sauna as a treatment modality." Frederik Otzen Bagger, Denmark: short-term effect of sauna on gene expression. Mikkel Aaland, USA: "State of the art" – an award-winning photographer and author of ten books. Eda Veeroja, Estonia: the smoke sauna tradition in Võromaa, on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage.

Further contributions: Kenneth Mikko (Sweden) on the sauna as a transitional ritual and Russian sauna mythology; Miki Tokairin (Japan) on shinrin-yoku (forest bathing) and the sauna; Birutė Masiliauskienė (Lithuania) on the role of the bath master in Lithuanian baths and on whisks; Tomas Hjälmeby (Sweden) on Tylö-Helo's 100 years; Valtteri Nieminen (Finland) on a novel concept to study sauna stoves; Mika Meskanen (UK) on the new sauna movement in the UK; Sara Porzilli (Italy) and Markku Seppänen (Finland) on MEÄN SAUNA – an inventory of old smoke saunas in the Torne river valley using laser scanning; Lassi A Liikkanen (Finland) on five mysteries in Finnish sauna design and on sauna bathing habits in Finland; Michael B Jensen (Denmark) on building a mobile smoke sauna; Sofia Eriksson (Australia) on "Sauna as Subversion"; Anna Artemieva (Russia) on the banya in Russian youth culture; Katsuki Tanaka (Japan) on sauna culture in Japan; and Risto Elomaa and Markku Seppänen on the Finnish RT standard sheets for smoke sauna construction.

A schedule for transport during the International Sauna Congress 2018 was provided for Thursday, Friday and Saturday between Kukkolaforsen, Haparanda Stadshotell, Park Hotel and Lappari. Note that all times were given in Swedish time; in Finland the time is one hour later. Taxi in Tornio (Finland): +358 200 68000. Taxi in Haparanda (Sweden): +46 922-105 00.

Places to visit in the Torne Valley

If you come by car, here are a few places you should visit in the Torne Valley. Taavolagården is a country-style interior shop in the village of Mattila, 3 km north of Haparanda, with decor, signs and gifts and a cosy 19th-century café. Korpikylä is Haparanda's northernmost village with the mighty Matkakoski rapids, one of the best salmon fishing spots in the entire Torne River. Here you find Nivagården overlooking the river with luxurious sauna facilities, and Hulkoffgården with a White Guide restaurant. Luppioberget offers the White Guide restaurant Utblick with a relaxed modern style and the best view over the Torne Valley. Hermansson in Haparanda is a shop that looks just as it did in the early 1900s. In Övertorneå, Hanhivittikko, you can stay in old-fashioned style, take a smoke sauna, drink water from the spring and spend time with the mountain cows.

Film from "Get Together", Lappari

Film from the opening ceremony, Park Hotel, Tornio

XVII Sauna Congress 7–10 June 2018 – sauna photos

The film about the sauna congress in the midnight sun and the sauna in the beautiful Torne Valley.

Watch the film on YouTube ↗

The programme is now final! Note that all times are given in Swedish time – in Finland the time is one hour later. Registration and Get Together in Lappari, Tornio.

Thursday 7 June: 14:00–15:00 Swedish Sauna Academy board meeting, Stadshotellet, Haparanda; 15:00–16:00 Swedish Sauna Academy member meeting; 16:00–17:00 ISA board meeting; 17:00–18:00 ISA member meeting; 18:00–19:00 registration in Lappari, Tornio; 19:00–22:00 "Get Together" in Lappari (moderator Lena Callne). Mobile sauna and mobile sauna exhibition at Kukkolaforsen the whole time.

Friday 8 June at Park Hotel, Tornio: 08:30–09:30 registration; 09:30–09:45 opening ceremony with welcome speeches by Göran Honkamaa, Risto Elomaa, Member of Parliament Ida Karkiainen and Minister for Rural Affairs Sven-Erik Bucht. Seminar 1, sauna and health (moderators Hans Hägglund and Jari Laukkanen) with presentations by Lasse Viinikka, Jari Laukkanen, Miikka Källström, Joy Hussain, Mark Timmerman and Frederik Otzen Bagger. Seminar 2, history and culture (moderators Hans Hägglund and Jack Tsonis) with Mikkel Aaland, Jesce Walz, Miki Tokairin, Eda Veeroja and Birutė Masiliauskienė. Seminar 3, technology, design and architecture (moderators Mats Winsa/Risto Elomaa and Markku Seppänen) with Tomas Hjälmeby, Valtteri Nieminen, Lauri Louekari, Mika Meskanen, Sara Porzilli and Jesce Walz, plus a panel discussion. At 19:00 the Swedish Sauna Academy celebrated 30 years at Kukkolaforsen, followed by a sauna barbecue evening.

Saturday 9 June: workshops 1–12. Lunch with photos and films by Jūratė Paškevičienė and Kenneth Mikko. Afternoon: "Sweat – the Aaland project" (Mikkel Aaland), INTERBAD (Joachim Sautier and Kaja Hoppe), terminology in sauna research (Jack Tsonis), conclusion of the congress (Honkamaa, Hägglund, Elomaa) and the IJSS meeting. At 14:00–18:00 Rimas's whisking and Russian banya with Egor at Kukkolaforsen. At 19:00 farewell dinner and ISA's 60th anniversary celebration (moderator Lena Callne). Midnight sun sauna – all saunas open until morning. Sunday 10 June: excursions.

Those who signed up for the Mobile Sauna Meet included: Håkan Ershammar with a TGB30, originally a heavy military terrain truck; Mobiba, the world's most portable sauna, which showed two saunas and a bath tub; Teuvan Saunaparaati; the Finnish Sauna Force with an army tent for 15 people; and the National Bath Association with a barrel banya (length 5.5 m, diameter 2.4 m, wood-heated) and a tent banya (diameter 6 m, wood-heated).

In conjunction with the XVII International Sauna Congress 2018, an exhibition, "Mobile Sauna Meet", was held at Kukkolaforsen Camping, where exhibition space was offered at no cost to participants. An exhibition of mobile saunas in different styles, where creativity had free interpretation. The congress jury got to vote for their favourite. Each exhibitor had to fill in an information sheet about their sauna. The chance to try the sauna gave extra points. Winning entries were awarded at a prize ceremony on the evening of Saturday 9 June, and all participants received a diploma.

Saturday 9 June, workshops 1–12: WS 1 Design of the Finnish Sauna – Five Mysteries for Future Research (Lassi Liikkanen, Finland); WS 2 Building a mobile smoke sauna (Michael Besnier Jensen, Denmark); WS 3 "Sauna as Subversion" (Sofia Eriksson, Australia); WS 4 Discussion on standards for a sauna lab / health studies (Hans Hägglund, Sweden, with Jari Laukkanen and Jani Leskinen, Finland); WS 5 The truth behind the sauna mystique (Ulf Salomonsson, Sweden); WS 6 Sauna as part of radical inclusion and as a place to connect (Saara Louhensalo, Finland); WS 7 Rituals and rules in Russian banya (Anna Artemieva, Russia); WS 8 Trends and innovations of sweat rituals with aufguss (Lasse Eriksen, Norway); WS 9 Whisking in spa, and whisks in Lithuanian bath – plants, types, conservation (Birutė Masiliauskienė, Lithuania); WS 10 Sauna culture in Japan (Katsuki Tanaka, Japan, translation Mr. Kim); WS 11 Finnish RT standard sheets and the renewed smoke sauna sheet – a guide for the design and construction of traditional smoke saunas (Risto Elomaa and Markku Seppänen, Finland); WS 12 "Bodies of Water" – approaches to gender in sauna and bath (Jesce Walz, USA).

Product presentations and company presentations. This is something everyone should experience sometime in their lives – a film about the people of the Torne Valley in northern Sweden.

Watch the film on Vimeo ↗

The next General Meeting of the Members of the International Sauna Association is held together with the XVII Sauna Congress in Sweden, on Thursday 7 June 2018 starting at 17:00, at Haparanda Stadshotell.

A little history of the International Sauna Association (ISA)

The International Sauna Association is a federation of national sauna associations and affiliated organisations and individuals. It was founded for the first time in 1958 with headquarters in Germany, but the real business started in the summer of 1977 in Helsinki, which then became the association's seat. Of the founding members, Austria, Germany, Japan and Finland remained members and are known as founding members. In addition there are now 13 other members. Board members 2014–2018: Risto Elomaa (President, Finland), Peter Jeitler (Vice-President, Austria), Rolf-A. Pieper (Germany), Kenichi Nakano (Japan), Kim P. Pedersen (Denmark), Rimas Kavaliauskas (Lithuania), Carsten Sonnenberg (Germany), Kari Laukkarinen (Finland) and Piotr Koper (Poland). If you are a member of your local sauna association, for example the Swedish Sauna Academy, you are automatically a member of the ISA.

NOTE! This programme was still only a proposal. If more people came by plane and were going to the conference, and if you rented a car and wanted company on the trip to Haparanda/Tornio and Kukkolaforsen, you could turn to Roger and he would put it on the website. All bus transport went to and from Kukkolaforsen, Haparanda Stadshotell and Park Hotel Tornio. At these hotels you had special rates if you stated that you attended the International Sauna Congress.

From the questions and answers: There are local buses running from Luleå Airport into the city centre every hour; from the centre other buses go to Haparanda roughly every two hours. The same applies between Oulu, Kemi and Tornio. The congress was moved to Park Hotel (Lappari) in Tornio; it is 2.5 km between Haparanda Stadshotell and Park Hotel, and buses ran between them (about 7 minutes). For travellers from the USA, flying was recommended, the nearest being Kemi in Finland (about 30 minutes from Haparanda/Tornio) or Luleå in Sweden (about 1 hour 40 minutes), and renting a car if staying longer.

Haparanda Stadshotell ↗

Park Hotel Tornio ↗

Kukkolaforsen Tourism & Conference ↗

198 participants registered, including some officials and musicians. 41% women. 42% interested in health and science, 37% in history and culture, 21% in technology and design. 10% go to the sauna 5–7 times a week, 20% 3–4 times, 53% 1–2 times and 17% less than once a week. The youngest participant was 17 and the oldest 80, and 81 people were under 50. The participants came from 24 different countries.

Countries represented: Australia (3), Austria (3), Belgium (4), Canada (1), China (2), Denmark (8), Estonia (4), Finland (27), France (4), Germany (6), Italy (3), Japan (18), Kenya (2), Lithuania (8), Norway (1), Pakistan (1), Poland (4), Russia (4), Switzerland (3), Spain (1), Sweden (82), the United Kingdom (3) and the United States (6). Among the Swedish participants were Göran Honkamaa (chairman), Svante Spolander, Hans Hägglund, Roger Häggström, Karin Carlsson, Lena Callne, Jens Linder, Kenneth Mikko, Ulf Salomonsson and the honorary members Rune Björnström, Nina Nu Wesemeyer and Nils-Olof Westberg, among others.

The Swedish Sauna Academy had talked to some hotels in Haparanda, Tornio and Kukkolaforsen Tourism & Conference which promised to prioritise guests who would attend Sauna Congress 2018. To book, you had to contact the hotels by email or phone and state that you were going to the congress; you could not book online. There are four airports in the area – Luleå, Kemi, Rovaniemi and Oulu – and the best way to get around Swedish and Finnish Lapland is to rent a car.

Haparanda Stadshotell

The 117-year-old hotel is one of the most famous turn-of-the-century hotels and was the meeting place of its time. When Russia was on the other side of the border, barons and leaders of east and west used to meet here. The hotel has 91 rooms/180 beds and 500 restaurant seats in total. Centrally located, only a 10-minute walk from the border between Sweden and Finland. Reservation code: "Sauna Congress". Telephone: +46 (0)922-614 90.

Park Hotel Tornio

The cosy and newly renovated Park Hotel Tornio on the Torne River welcomes you to the borderland between Finland and Sweden. There are single and double rooms, suites and family rooms, 98 rooms in total, all non-smoking. Reservation code: "Sauna Congress". Telephone: +358 (0)40 358 33 00.

Kukkolaforsen Tourism & Conference Ltd

The family business Kukkolaforsen Tourism & Conference is run by the Spolander family, who have been active in the area for over five generations. It is a conference, experience and knowledge centre in the Torne Valley, with rustic accommodation, various sauna experiences and rewarding fishing opportunities.

Park Hotel Tornio ↗

This is CLOSED. For the Sauna Congress in June 2018. Three areas were covered in presentations and workshops. If you had something interesting to share with others within these areas, you could submit it. The deadline for submission of abstracts was 31 January 2018.

Smoke sauna trip to Soukolojärvi

7 June. Bus trip to Soukolojärvi with a smoke sauna session. Salmon soup is served along with other traditional food. Soukolojärvi lies 10 km north of Övertorneå, on a lake, and is unique in having five smoke saunas. Group size: 20–40 people. Price: EUR 125.

Smoke sauna tour to Matkakoski

Matkakoski is one of the biggest rapids in the Torne River, famous for salmon fishing. You meet Stig Waara, who owns one of the oldest smoke saunas in Sweden, close to the river. After the sauna you are shown the salmon fishing and have some food and drink. Group size: 6–12 people. Price: EUR 65/person. Duration: 4 hours. The trip only runs on Sunday 10 June.

Smoke sauna tour to Esko in Hovilompolo

The pride and joy of Hovilompolo is the big smoke sauna where 20 people can go at the same time. Near the sauna you can also bathe in Hulju, Hovilompolo's own "human boiler". There is also a cosy octagonal kota sauna for 10 people. Lunch is served after the sauna. Group size: 8–35 people. Price: EUR 80/person. Duration: 5 hours. The trip only runs on Monday 11 June.

Rafting and sauna

River rafting takes place in Kukkolaforsen in a rubber boat where everyone takes part by paddling. The price includes two runs. Afterwards we enjoy a wood-heated sauna and a whitefish lunch. Group size: 8–25 people. Price: EUR 95/person. Duration: 5 hours. There is also salmon fishing with a bag net (EUR 45) and separate river rafting (EUR 45).

The Swedish Sauna Academy member meeting. The Annual Meeting was held on Thursday at 15:00 at Haparanda Stadshotell. Send an email to info@bastuakademien.se if you were going to attend the Annual Meeting.

"Open Sauna Day" on Sunday 10 June

During the meeting on 8–9 June, all the saunas in Kukkolaforsen were open for the participants, and Sunday 10 June was an "open sauna day" for all interested.

Whisking programme at Kukkolaforsen

The whisking programme at the XVII International Sauna Congress was designed to meet different needs, from newbies to experienced whiskers. Whisking was held on Saturday at 14:00–18:00 for congress participants (included in the fee) and on Sunday for a fee for anyone who wanted to. The programme included theoretical presentations by Rimas Kavaliauskas on whisking techniques and sauna design, Vasily Liachov on the traditional use of honey in the banya, as well as group procedures, whisk degustation, classical whisking, four-round whisking and modern sauna aromatherapy with the international whisking team.

Russian banya at Kukkolaforsen

On Friday evening and on Saturday between 13:00 and 18:00 there was an opportunity to attend a presentation of the Russian banya with Egor and his team. Andrei and Gennady gave lectures and a masterclass on the banya's history, traditions and rituals, the practical use of veniki (whisks) and herbs, and the basics of healthy banya treatments. Aleksei Tytsko performed individual treatments and Pyetr Yevstignyeyev collective treatments.