PERNIÖN LAURIN MARKKINAT

History

The earliest information about Perniö Laurin Markkinat event has been found in hymn books and old almanacs.
The oldest mention dates back to 1573. At that time, the market was probably held at Latokartano, in Muntolanniemi, where the royal road crossed the Perniönjoki River, continuing through Pyhäjoki to the church area.
The timing of the market on St. Lawrence's Day meant that people would gather to eat in honor of the Catholic Saint Lawrence. At the same time, it was convenient to shop and sell their own products at the market.
Later in the 17th century, it became known that it was mandatory to provide a cleaning service three months before moving, by St. Laurus Day.
Thus, Laurin Markkino also became a workday for the service workers, when they were also paid workday money. Later, the vicar, church board and district officials complained to the governor that workers were being lured to Laurin Markkino in such a way that they were unable to work during the busiest working hours after getting drunk there.

24 years in the municipality of Perniö

The Perniö Economic Development Board wanted to revive the municipality's traditions and restarted Laurin Markkinat on Friday, August 10, 1978.
Already in the first summer, the event included a wide range of cultural offerings, including music, singing, dancing and plays, as well as competitions such as volleyball and darts.
In the early years, these markets were held in the market square of the village. In 1981, they moved to the school yard next to the church. The municipality of Perniö handled the arrangements for the Laurin Markkinat event until 2001, when the municipality wanted to give up for cost-saving reasons.

Markets as their own association

Over the past 24 years, the Laurin Markkinat event had become a tradition for the residents of the municipality, an event that was also attended by many people who were originally from Pernio but had moved elsewhere.
To organize the market, the entire community of the municipality was invited to the council chamber of the municipal hall on January 10, 2002. At that time, it was decided to establish the Laurin Markkinat association.
The aim of establishing the association was to bring together association activists from Pernio to ensure the preservation and development of the Laurin Markkinat charity tradition as part of the municipality's cultural and social capital.
As a result of six months of joint efforts, the association produced the modern Laurin Markkinat on August 25, 2002.
The association has made a long-term agreement with the municipality of Perniö and currently the city of Salo to organize the annual market and welcomes all Perniö associations to join in developing the market event and, with it, making the entire cultural offering of Perniö even more eventful.

The association also welcomes market vendors from other localities to the market each year. You make our market eventful.

Market map from the years when the Lauri market in Perniö was large.