Childhood summers at the beach 

Community, Kylä magazine, Soihtu Staff / 16.9.2025

Text: Anna-Leena Kauppila | Pictures: Tiina Salminen, Tiitu Design 

Kaisa Helste from the Soihtu Housing team spent a big part of her childhood summers in Mattilanniemi beach, also known as Alba beach. 

”The happiest memories are absolutely the summer days and picnics at the beach. We packed snacks in the morning and spent the whole day there swimming and playing games. All my friends came too even though we haven’t even agreed about it because not everyone had cell phones back then”, Kaisa reminisces. 

Nowadays Kaisa lives elsewhere but the job at Soihtu brought her temporarily back to Jyväskylä. ”I went to Alba beach a couple of times just to enjoy the nostalgy and ice cream. I enjoy the surroundings of Alba beach: the beautiful old buildings of the university, Ylistö bridge and its fantastic lights in the dark, the Rantaraitti route around the lake and the nature. There’s even an outdoor gym, a minigolf track and an ice cream kiosk which were not there when I was a kid.” 

Kaisa recommends Alba beach to everyone for summer days, student life, excercise and dates.