The Tampere Theatre Festival, or Tampereen Teatterikesä, takes place in Tampere, Finland, at the beginning of August and is the oldest annual theatre festival in the Nordic countries. The festival was started in 1969 with support from Tampereen Teatterikerho (Tampere Theatre Club). Today the festival features a couple of hundred theatre performances and hundreds of other events each year. The total number of visitors in 2005 was 92,000.
The main programme of Tampere Theatre Festival consists of performances by international guests and professional Finnish theatres. Additionally, both professional and amateur theatres can be seen in the OFF series. The programme contains drama, dance theatre, street performances and club and restaurant shows. Workshops, seminars, exhibitions and meetings for professionals and amateurs are also organised in connection to the Theatre Festival.
A related event that takes place during Tampere Theatre Festival is the cross-artistic Tapahtumien Yö, The Great Nocturnal Happening, which features a wide variety of arts and culture and is co-produced by the festival.