Hartwall Areena

Infobox_Arena
arena_name = Hartwall Areena
nickname =


location = Areenankuja 1, Helsinki, Finland
opened = April 19, 1997
owner = Helsinki Halli Oy
architect =
former_names =
tenants = Jokerit (1997-)
seating_capacity = 13,464 (Ice hockey)
12,000 - 15,000 (Concert)
3,000 - 5,000 (Theatre)

Hartwall Areena (often called Helsinki Areena, Helsingin Areena or Helsingforsarenan ('The Helsinki Arena') by the Finnish press) is a large multifunctional indoor arena located in Helsinki, Finland. The arena gets its name from its largest sponsor, the beverage company Hartwall, based in Helsinki.

The idea of building the arena came from Harry Harkimo in 1994. It was built to be ready for the Ice Hockey World Championships in 1997 and was delivered by the constructor on April 11, 1997. The building is elliptical, 153 metres long and 123 metres wide.

Total capacity in ice hockey games is 13 464 (all seats). The arena is convertible for various events. For sport events, the capacity is about 10,000, about 14,000 for basketball, for concerts about 12,000, and as an amphitheatre, 3,000-5,000. It is connected to a multi-storey carpark, which has a total capacity of 1,421 vehicles.

Hartwall Areena is the home venue of ice hockey team Jokerit.

Past events:

* Concerts : The Beach Boys (the first event after the arena opened), Aerosmith, Guns N' Roses, Luciano Pavarotti, Eric Clapton, No Doubt, KISS, Spice Girls, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Cher, Elton John, Shania Twain, Bryan Adams, David Bowie, Bon Jovi, The Eagles, AC/DC, Robbie Williams, Rammstein, Nightwish, Iron Maiden, John Fogerty, R.E.M., Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Rush, Lenny Kravitz, Backstreet Boys, Phil Collins, Anastacia, Ricky Martin, Depeche Mode, 50 Cent, P.Diddy, Snoop Dogg, Shakira, Il Divo, Evanescence, George Michael, The Who, The Pussycat Dolls, Ozzy Osbourne, Gwen Stefani, Rihanna, Celine Dion, Kylie Minogue
* Sports: Ice Hockey World Championships, World Figure Skating Championships, 2002 Men's World Floorball Championships, Thunder Indoor Karting, World Cup of Hockey, NHL Challenge, Monster Jam, three visits by WWE in 2002, 2004 and 2005
* Theatre and shows: Riverdance, Jesus Christ Superstar, Chess, Cats, Les Misérables, Saturday Night Fever, David Copperfield, Mamma Mia! -musical
* Other events: Assembly demo party
* Trivia: Here on May 26th 1998 Geri Halliwell performed with the Spice Girls for the last time, until the 2007 reunion. Tarja Turunen also performed her last show as lead vocalist of symphonic heavy metal band Nightwish.

Hartwall Areena was the venue for the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest on Thursday 2007-05-10 Saturday 2007-05-12.

External links

* [http://www.hartwall-areena.com/ Hartwall Areena] Official website, in Finnish and English