Kotka-Jukola has work for 1,500 volunteers. The tasks cover the full spectrum, and the reward is a unique experience and a great feeling.
Kotka-Jukola 2026
When a sporting event lasting just under 24 hours brings in 20,000 competitors and just as many spectators, the organizers need to stretch. In recent years, Jukola has been successfully run with around 1,500 volunteer workers. At Kotka-Jukola in the summer of 2026, we will operate with the same formula. – We are aiming for 1,500 volunteers, but if more come, all the better, says Kotka-Jukola’s volunteer manager Sari Kaitainen.
Now, with about ten months to H-hour, there are a little over five hundred names in the volunteer register. – That is a good number at this stage, says Kaitainen.
Construction begins already in May
The Kotka-Jukola competition weekend is 13–14 June, but from the beginning of May 2026 there will already be a lot happening in the area of Kymin airfield and the motorsport centre as construction of the event village begins. At that stage we will need builders, electricians and other professionals. The volunteer pace picks up as summer arrives, and the buzz culminates over Jukola weekend from Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon. During the competition, there will be a couple of hundred volunteers in the forest as well.
What tasks are available?
– There will be, for example, control marshals, first aid, and support roles for TV and radio crews. The company delivering the TV production is experienced and knows its job, but they must have all the necessary information available at all times, Kaitainen says.
A chapter of its own are the running cameras, where a TV camera operator runs with the camera behind a runner moving at full speed. Many volunteer tasks do not require orienteering experience, but not just anyone will manage running-camera duties. – VeVe has traditionally had many top orienteers. One could imagine we will have people for these roles from there.
A lot of people are also needed to run the competition operations. – There are tasks that do not require orienteering skills but bring you right into the heart of the competition: Emit reset, guiding athletes into the changeover, and drink stations, for example. Only a short induction is needed, Kaitainen says.
The role of the clubs
Traditionally, the teams of the organizing clubs do not compete in their own Jukola. – Diplomatically, we hope our own members focus on volunteering, Kaitainen laughs. – We need everyone with orienteering skills out in the terrain. And both clubs have other practical strengths as well.
According to Kaitainen, VeVe with its 2,000 members is the cornerstone of the volunteer effort. – But this will likely appeal to people around the region anyway. And there are people from all over Finland who enjoy being volunteers.
Volunteer story: Anu Soini
For example, Kymin Suunnistajat’s Anu Soini has been a visiting volunteer about ten times. At her hometown Jukola she will be in charge of the competition information service. – That will be new. Until now I have more or less gone to Jukola to enjoy the event and then done a suitably long volunteer shift in first aid, says Anu Soini.
Soini is a nurse by profession. One memory that stands out is a shift in Porvoo’s sweltering Jukola in the summer of 2023. – It was an extreme heatwave and all sorts of things came to first aid, from heatstroke to rinsing contact lenses. I was there for six or seven hours, and I missed seeing the Venla relay, Soini recalls.
Shifts and stamina
You can influence the length of your shift. – Someone wants to do four hours, another six, and someone twelve, Soini says.
According to volunteer manager Kaitainen, at Kotka-Jukola one shift “could be about six hours”. – But some are done in longer shifts. It does not make sense to leave the terrain quickly once you have gone there. And hopefully some volunteers will do more than one shift.
Kaitainen promises that at Kotka-Jukola we will try to take care of the volunteers. – So that everyone is left with a good feeling. For example, it must be possible to take breaks, that is what personal experience has taught.
Security stewards
One group that has traditionally been a challenge to assemble is the security stewards. – Alcohol has little to no role at Jukola, but since this is a large event, we need a lot of security stewards as well. Volunteers who hold a security steward card are very welcome. And in the end it always works out, one way or another.
Why join?
Kaitainen praises how as a volunteer “you get to the heart of the event to see how it is really done”. – As a volunteer you take part in a collective effort. You handle your own small slice of a large event’s arrangements. There is no pay for volunteer work, but free catering is provided and you get a Jukola cap or tube scarf as well as a T-shirt as a memento. As a bonus you gain new friends and memories. – Jukola is a fine, traditional event. It is a sports event, but at the same time much more. And it has never been organized in Kotka before, says Kaitainen.
Register
Registration is not absolutely binding, but of course we hope registrations will not be cancelled. Sometimes situations arise that force a cancellation, and that cannot be helped. The volunteer manager Kaitainen hopes that, when registering, people would share their interests and any special skills – This helps us find the right and interesting task for you.
You can register as a volunteer: here