North Ostrobothnia Award to Aatu Turpeinen
The Northern Ostrobothnia Prize 2026 has been awarded to Aatu Turpeinen, a content producer and entrepreneur from Taivalkoski. The founder of RebelWerks has made Northern Ostrobothnia known by combining craftsmanship, entrepreneurship and digital content production. Turpeinen has built a nationwide audience from Taivalkoski. In August 2026, the RebelWerks channel, which focuses on cars, machines, construction and repairs, had around 260,000 YouTube subscribers and more than 200,000 TikTok followers. At the 2025 Tubecon Awards, RebelWerks was awarded both as an influencer of the year and as an audience favourite. With the award, the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia wants to highlight the example of a young entrepreneur that nationally successful creative business can be built from a small locality. Turpeinen's videos show mechanical know-how, repair, ingenuity and the culture of doing things yourself. At the same time, Taivalkoski, Koillismaa and North Ostrobothnia become familiar to a wide young audience. The award was presented at the Regional Parliament of Northern Ostrobothnia in Oulu Theatre on 2 November. Turpeinen attended the event with a video greeting, and the award was received on his behalf by Harri Karjalainen, Chairman of Taivalkoski Council. The North Ostrobothnia Prize is awarded annually for outstanding work that promotes the region and strengthens its identity. North Ostrobothnia Prize Regional Days 2026 - performances
