Tangomarkkinat

As well as competitions to find the country's best tango singers, composers, and dancers, the festival features public dancing to live music provided by the best Finnish entertainers.

Lasse Lintala, the director of the Ilmajoki Music Festival and his wife were in the sauna with the director of the MTV3 TV channel Tauno Äijälä and his wife Katja.

Seinäjoki city council approved the venture, and in January 1985 the Tango Music Advancement Association was established.

For the first three years of its existence the Tangomarkkinat was plagued by bad weather, and in 1988 it made a loss of 100,000 marks, exacerbated by the lack of success of the Olavi Virta musical, which premiered that year.

In 1989 a combination of excellent weather and the immensely popular new Tango Queen Arja Koriseva put the event back in the black.

President Tarja Halonen attended the 20th Tangomarkkinat in 2004, when 34 past and present Tango Royals were gathered together for a special radio concert.

Since 2002 the Raisio judges have chosen 12 finalists, from whom the viewers vote for their 10 favourites.

Famous tango royals include Arja Koriseva, Jari Sillanpää, Sauli Lehtonen, Saija Varjus, Erika Vikman, Eija Kantola, Mira Kunnasluoto, Kaija Lustila and Kaija Pohjola.

were given extra publicity by being included in the televised finals of the singing competition.