Culture Cures: Doctors Prescribe Tickets to Cultural Events in Turku, Finland

TURKU, Finland, October 28, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Turku, European Capital of Culture 2011, intends to prove the claim that "culture cures". The idea for doing this is a cultural prescription.

The City of Turku Board of Health Care decided that 5,500 free tickets to cultural events taking place in 2011 would be given out at municipal health centres.

- "When seeing patients, doctors will consider whether a cultural visit may benefit a patient as a supplement or even as an alternative to medical treatment," explains Aleksi Randell, Mayor of Turku.

Turku is one of the first cities in the world to adopt a cultural prescription. And the events that it offers its citizens are not just any old thing. The prescriptions apply to 50 happenings related to the Capital of Culture, including the Cirque Dracula circus performance and a theatrical version of The Brothers Karamazov, directed by the renowned theatre director Kristian Smeds.

- "The City of Turku made a fine, open-minded decision. We are happy to participate in this kind of venture - as even the motto of the Capital of Culture goes: Culture Cures," says Cay Sevon, Executive Director of the Capital of Culture project.

The population of the greater Turku area is 300,000 and the city itself 176,000. Previously the capital city and now the fifth-largest city in Finland, Turku is located on the west coast of Finland and has always been known as a place of diversity and culture.

Turku is the European Capital of Culture 2011, a title it shares with the capital of Estonia, Tallinn. Up to two million people from Europe and its surrounding areas are expected to attend the events in the Turku 2011 programme. The budget for the celebratory year is EUR 50 million. http://www.turku2011.fi/en

SOURCE Turku 2011 European Capital of Culture

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