International Stone Carving Festival Juuka, Nunnanlahti, Finnland

10th -12th July 2026

Major events cast their shadows ahead. Finland was elected to organise the European Stone Carving Festival summer 2027. At this event, stone carvers from all over Europe will gather to showcase their skills and creativity. In preparation for this major event, we are launching our 6th Stone Carving Festival in 2026 with a significantly larger number of competitors, as a kind of dress rehearsal.

The 2026 Theme

The theme for 2026 is ”Roots”. It was been selected by Ellin Taitajat association, the organisers of the festival, and is binding for all participants.

The Stone

The stone used in the competition is soapstone and will be provided by Tulikivi Corporation from the Nunnanlahti Soapstone Quarry in Juuka. 

The two competitions

International competition in Manual Stone Carving. Maximum 30 competitors.
Only hand tools may be used for manual sculpture.
Each competitor is assigned a worktable on which a prepared cylindrical soapstone blank with a diameter of 200 mm and a height of 300 mm is positioned.
The addition of other materials and the use of surface treatment agents is prohibited.
The use of water is permitted.

International competition in Machine Stone Carving. Maximum 10 competitors.
Electric and pneumatic tools as well as hand tools may be used in machine sculpting.
Each competitor is assigned a worktable on which a prepared soapstone blank measuring
300 x 300 x 400 mm is positioned.
The addition of other materials and the use of surface treatment agents is prohibited.
The use of water is permitted.

Competitors

The international competitions are open to all Finnish citizens and foreigners aged 16 and over.
Competitors under the age of 18 must enclose a consent form from their legal guardian with their application.

Each participant will have three days (approx. 24 working hours) to complete their carving, and each piece must be available at the end of the event.

Participants must also prepare either sketches or a model of their design before the festival, in order to give the visitors a better insight into how a piece of work is realised.

Remember to bring your own tools to the festival!

If you would like to take part in this event in 2026, go to the registration page and complete the form. It will be open as of January 2026.

We look forward to welcoming you and hope you enjoy the International Soapstone Festival 2026 in Juuka Finland.

For inquiries regarding the competition, please contact:
Tuula Ikonen-Graafmans, Contact person: ellintaitajat(at)gmail.com, Tel. +358 400 674 062(FI, EN)
Jan Graafmans, Contact person: jan.graafmans(at)gmail.com, Tel. +358 503699733 (EN, DE, FR, NL)
Carmen Bahlo, Contact person:carmen_bahlo(at)t-online.de, Tel. +49 1578 4407802 (DE, FI)
Matti Tuominen, Wettbewerbsleiter: mattituo48(at)gmail.com, Tel. +358 40 548 5562 (FI)
Eija Meriläinen, Veranstaltungsdirektorin und Vorsitzende von Ellin Taitajat ry:
eijamerilainen(at)hotmail.com, Tel. +358 50 541 8951 (FI)