Oulu Entertainment

  1. 45 Special

    This grungy club is Oulu's best rock venue, with wall-to-wall patrons.

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  2. Café Milou

    Named after Tin Tin's hound, this place is away from the main strip but packs in students with its relaxed vibe, bookshelves filled with comics, and service so rude it's almost comical. There's a small terrace.

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  3. Giggling Marlin

    This is one of a new brand of 'Suomi pop' clubs, featuring two dance floors with contemporary Finnish pop and international music and young Finns dancing on the tables.

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  4. Kaarlenholvi Jumpru Pub

    This Oulu institution is a great place for meeting locals. It has an enclosed terrace, a perennial favourite, and a warren of cosy rooms inside, as well as a nightclub that opens at Wednesday to Saturday.

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  5. Makasiini

    This is a classic café set in an old wooden warehouse on the kauppatori. It opens extremely early so that stallholders can get their first coffee of the day in, and in summer has a great terrace that sucks all it can get from the evening sun.

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  7. Never Grow Old

    This enduringly popular bar hits its stride after , with plenty of dancing, DJs and revelry in the tightly packed interior. The goofy décor includes some seriously comfortable and some really uncomfortable places to sit, and a log-palisade bar that seems designed to get you to wear your drink.

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  8. Oluthuone Leskinen

    This bar on the central pedestrian zone has a good terrace and has an extraordinary range of Finnish and international beers, as well as malt whiskies. There's notably friendly service and a good atmosphere.

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  9. Oulu City Theatre

    This theatre has classical music, contemporary theatre and the occasional Shakespearian performance, almost all of it in Finnish.

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  10. Oulu Music Centre

    The Oulu Symphony Orchestra - the world's northernmost professional symphony orchestra - holds concerts here most Thursdays.

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  11. St Michaels

    In the same block as Never Grow Old, St Michaels is a convivial Irish bar that pours a very acceptable Guinness, and has an excellent selection of whiskies.

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  13. Tervahovi

    A more typically Finnish place than St Michaels, with leopard-skin and a vaguely French theme; they also do tasty food.

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