Kankaanpää is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the crossroads of Hämeenkangas and Pohjankangas ridges. It belongs to the region of Satakunta. Kankaanpää has a population of about 11,200 inhabitants.
Culture
The Art Circle, located in Kankaanpää, is a gradually expanding ensemble of more than a hundred works of art permanently placed in the urban environment. You can explore the art ring by walking the Art Trail or even jogging around the ring. The Art Circle has more than a hundred works created in collaboration between the art school, the city and the art association.
There is also a unit of visual arts at Satakunta University of Applied Sciences in Kankaanpää, better known as Kankaanpää School of Art . The school has a long and impressive history, dating back to the turn of the 1950s and 1960s, when Kankaanpää was already a vibrant center of visual arts.
The Kankaanpää City Museum is located in Niinisalo, in a former school building. In addition to the cultural history department, the art and garrison museum departments also belong to the ensemble.
The Veneskoski Summer Theater annually presents a play produced by the Veneskoski Village Association or the Kankaanpää Youth Association.
“Hörhiäinen” is the people’s name for an active and energetic local citizen who brings about good activities and works for the common good. He is a symbol of well-being made of cloth. Hörhiäinen of the Year is always chosen in connection with Hörhiäinen Week at the end of August.
Due to its roots from Häme , the traditional drink at Kankaanpää is sahti and the traditional food is cross-broth , ie pea soup with rye flour . In Kankaanpää in the 1980s, sheep violin and fries were named as other keeping dishes. A separate saht club has been established in Kankaanpää in the 21st century to promote the preservation and development of the tradition.
Kankaanpää has been a major center of handicraft culture. Wood and leather craftsmanship was refined into a nationally significant concentration in the shoe industry.
The Kankaanpää dialect belongs to the Häme dialects.
History
First signs of humanity in the area are from the stone age and during the 16th century people started to settle in Kankaanpää area. Oldest houses that area found from the documents of Sweden-Finland are from the 1560 decade. There were three houses in Kankaanpää then: Honko, Oukari and Päivike.
The oldest passage in the province was from Hämeenkyrö through the ridges to Kauhajoki. In the 17th century it was the most important road between southern Finland and Ostrobothnia. The king of Sweden visited Kankaanpää twice. Gustavus Adolphus travelled from Ilmajoki to Hämeenlinna through Kankaanpää in 1614 and Adolf Fredrik had a rest in Kuninkaanlähde spring to water his horses and to eat in 1752. The spring was named after this event.
Education
Kankaanpää offers basic education with 6 elementary schools and a secondary school. There is also a trade school and a polytechnic school which will be abolished in near future. The Artillery School in the Artillery Brigade provides university-level education for all future career artillery officers.