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

TURKU, Finland, October 28, 2010 - 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.
www.turku2011.fi/en

Contact: Mikko Lohikoski, Director External Affairs and Communication, City of Turku tel. +358(0)50-559-0238, mikko.lohikoski at turku.fi; Cay Sevon, Executive Director, Turku 2011 Foundation, tel. +358(0)40-764-9541 or cay.sevon at turku2011.fi