Mayors of Siilinjärvi and Kuopio will exchange roles for a day in honor of the anniversary year!

Northern Savonia will be celebrating historic anniversaries this year, as the municipality of Siilinjärvi turns 100 years and the city of Kuopio celebrates its 250th anniversary at the end of 2025. As part of these significant anniversary celebrations, a rare but heartwarming event will take place in these municipalities, when Siilinjärvi Mayor Janne Airaksinen and Kuopio Mayor Soile Lahti change roles for a day on October 8, 2025.

During the day, both leaders will explore each other’s work and current issues. The visit program includes three significant locations in each municipality: a new educational institution, a sports facility, and the offices where the leaders primarily work during the day.

Siilinjärvi and Kuopio cooperate extensively in areas such as education, transport and business. We hope that this cooperation will continue in the future, for the next 100 and 250 years.

“Janne is a trusted colleague of mine as a municipal manager, and Siilinjärvi is an important partner for Kuopio. What would be better way to celebrate the anniversary years of Kuopio and Siilinjärvi and build the future than to swap places for a day and see things from the other side of the municipal border? I believe that my day in the shoes of the municipal manager of Siilinjärvi will be memorable, and I am looking forward to it.” – commented Kuopio City Manager Soile Lahti the day of the change of power.

“My respect for Soile as a person and a leader is so high that I am happy to give her the keys to the municipality of Siilinjärvi for a day. Although we know each other’s affairs quite well as neighboring municipalities, it will be very interesting to take a moment to look at Kuopio, the driving force of the province, from the perspective of a city manager.” – said Janne Airaksinen, Mayor of Siilinjärvi.