The term event mainly refers to public events defined in the Assembly Act (530/1999, section 2), such as recreational events, competitions, exhibitions and other similar events open to the public, which cannot be defined as public meetings. If participation in the meeting requires an invitation or the membership of a certain community, the regulations of the Assembly Act concerning public events will also be applied to it, unless the event can be considered to be a private event due to the number of participants, the type of the event or some other special reasons.

Many parties control the organising of events and the event organiser may have to apply for several different permits from the authorities. The pages of City of Helsinki have a checklist for event organisers, presenting all the permits required in Helsinki and other factors that should be taken into account.

An emergency plan should be compiled for specific events. With the help of the emergency plan, the rescue authorities can ensure that the event organiser is well-prepared for both preventing accidents and operating during the possible accident situations. An emergency plan must be compiled for a public event,

• where the estimated number of visitors present at the same time is at least 200 people;
• where open fire, fireworks or some other pyrotechnic products are used or flammable and explosive chemicals are used as special effects;
• where the evacuation arrangements deviate from the standard, or
• if the nature of the event is particularly risky for the people.

The emergency plan must be delivered to the area’s rescue authorities at least 14 days before the event begins. The template for the emergency plan is available under the section “Emergency plan of a public event”.

If the event has a large number of participants or if it has some special risks, the event organiser must contact the rescue authorities already during the planning stages. Special risks can be caused by, for example, the venue, traffic, public’s profile and dangerous chemicals or structures. The rescue authorities will carry out a fire inspection for the event, if necessary.

If a firework performance or a fire show is organised in the event, or if pyrotechnical effects are in use, the necessary notifications must be made to the police and the rescue authorities. More information about the notifications made to the Rescue Department is available under the sections “Pyrotechnical effects”, "Dangerous chemicals and fireworks" and “Fire show”.

Temporary accommodation at assembly facilities

Temporary accommodation in premises, which have not been approved to be used as overnight accommodation in the valid building permit, is possible, if the safety arrangements of the accommodations have been implemented as instructed below and if the rescue authorities have approved the use of the premises as temporary accommodation. The organiser of the temporary accommodation must notify the Rescue Department about the accommodation at least 14 days before the beginning of the intended temporary accommodation, using this form.

Further information: Instructions on the safety arrangements for temporary accommodation at assembly facilities (in Finnish)
Notification of temporary accommodation -digital notification form

Chargeability of the monitoring

Most of the monitoring work carried out by the Rescue Department has been subject to a charge since 1 January 2013, as defined in section 96 of the Rescue Act (379/2011). More information about the invoicing fees is available on Rescue Departments billing fees (in Finnish).

Contact and further information:

• pel.tapahtumat(at)hel.fi
• Fire Inspector Henrik Suutarinen, tel +358 (0)9 31356
• Fire Inspector Juha-Pekka Koski, tel. +358 (0)9 310 31388
• Senior Fire Inspector Sami Maskulin, tel. +358 (0)9 310 31360
• Senior Fire Inspector Sami Mård, tel. +358 (0)9 310 31361
• Fire Inspector Heidi Partanen. tel +358 (0)9 310 31362
• Fire Inspector Petri Päkki, tel +358 (0)9 310 31384
• Fire Inspector Liia Wuorikoski, tel. +358 (0)9 310 31365
  

The email addresses follow the format firstname.lastname@hel.fi

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