The four Finnish entities, Joensuu, Oulu, Helsinki and Turku are proud to present to you the EGEA Newbie Weekend 2026! 

The Newbie Weekend is a perfect opportunity to start your journey in EGEA 💙 

The event helps you to get to know EGEA and meet other EGEAns from around Europe, make amazing memories and new friends. During the weekend you will get introduced to our wonderful association, the history and structure of EGEA, everything it can offer you and fun EGEA traditions. We invite you to spend the weekend in one of the northernmost corners of EGEA in Lohja, Finland where you will get to experience Finnish specialties such as our cuisine, sauna and our beautiful nature. 

program

The program will include EGEA classics such as the EGEA Fair and Cultural Fair, excursions in the Finnish landscapes, and additional exciting activities 🙂 

The program is preliminary and might still change. More information about the excursion and workshops coming soon!

Location & accommodation

Pellin Leirikeskus (Pelli camping center) is located in Finnish countryside near the city of Lohja, offering a peaceful congress venue. The camping centre is by the picturesque Lohjanjärvi (Lake Lohja) and surrounded by beautiful Finnish forests and agriculture. The accommodation building offers 4-person rooms with bunk beds for 30 participants, a large dining/event hall, lounge rooms and a covered patio. Participants are asked to bring their own bedsheets, as the accommodation doesn’t provide them. Pillows and blankets are provided by the accommodation. The camping centre also has an additional building for activities, spacious grounds for outside activities and a lakeside sauna 🙂

We warmly welcome you to spend the weekend with us at Pelli camping center!

Address of Pelli camping centre: Härjanvatsantie 210, 09120 Karjalohja, SUOMI/FINLAND

If you have questions about the accommodation, don’t hesitate to contact the orgateam through Instagram: @nw26_egea or email: newbieweekend.2026@egea.eu

HOW TO GET THERE?

The Newbie Weekend takes place at Pellin leirikeskus (Pelli camping centre), Härjanvatsantie 210, 09120 Karjalohja in Finland. The best way to reach the event site is by taking public transport from Helsinki.

How to get to Helsinki:

By plane: When arriving by plane, the closest airport to the event venue is Helsinki-Vantaa airport. There are direct trains and buses from the airport to Helsinki city centre, where you find connecting journeys to the event venue. Find the trains, buses and tickets through the HSL-app.

By ferry: There are ferries going to Helsinki from Tallinn and Stockholm. You can find the timetables and tickets from here https://laivaliput.fi/

+ If you spend time and move around in Helsinki, we advise you to download the HSL-app, where you can plan your journeys and buy tickets for all public transportation (trains, busses, trams, metro).

How to get from Helsinki to the event venue:

• First taking a bus from Helsinki bus station Kamppi to Lohja bus station (the journey is around 1h 10min)
• From Lohja bus station you can take the bus number 40 (Lohja-Härjänvatsa) to the stop ‘Suomusjärven th’ (the journey is around 35min).
• From the bus stop there is a 2km walk to the Pelli camping centre (Härjänvatsantie 210, 09120 Karjalohja)

You can find the timetables and tickets for the busses here: https://www.matkahuolto.fi/

(We are currently working on a possible shared transportation from Lohja to the event venue. You will receive more information about this as soon as possible.)

Registration

Registration opens 28.9. at 10 (CET) and closes 18.10. at 23.59 (CET)

Everyone is welcome, of course all Newbies as well as already experienced EGEAns! Looking forward to seeing you in November <3

Your questions answered

Q: How do I know if this is something for me?

A: If you like meeting people and/or viewing geography from different stances and/or like travelling, then this is definitely something for you! Every EGEA experience is different, some people like certain aspects more than others and that’s totally okay, because an EGEA event (like this one) has a lot of aspects to offer!

Q: My English is not that good, will I be able to fit in?

A: The key to learning a language is practicing, and most EGEAns don’t have English as a mother tongue, so everybody will make an effort to understand you and be patient. Besides, we’re sure your English is better than you think!!

Q: I have some information I need the orgateam to know, how do I tell them?

A: Some time after you register for the event, we will sent a participant form for more information about you (eg. allergies, if you want to sleep in a same-gender room, …) so you can let us know there. We will also make a Whatsapp chat for everybody. Otherwise feel free to contact us through Instagram: @nw26_egea or email: newbieweekend.2026@egea.eu