Finnish May 1st : a colorful carnival

Today I will tell you about an important event that is happening all over Finland! And I had the chance to participate.

The first of May in Finland is called "Vappu" in Finnish. This day is a festival of work and labour movement in many countries, but in Finland it is also a student festival and a carnival to celebrate the arrival of spring.

· The origins of May Day:

May 1st, Vappu, traditionally means the beginning of spring and therefore, this day is a turning point of the year. But originally, the first of May was a religious holiday, celebrated since the Middle Ages in honour of Saint Walburge, a Christian saint of Saxon origin. The night of Walpurgis, between April 30 and May 1, was celebrated throughout Northern Europe to mark the arrival of spring.

In the 19th century, the celebration of May Day took on an ideological and political character. Indeed in the United States that the May Day demonstrations began in 1888 for the demand for an 8-hour day, a movement adopted by the International Socialist Congress of Paris 1889. May 1st was also the day of the annual renewal of employment contracts. The first of May quickly became the day of demands from workers all over Europe. In Finland, the first parade on May 1st was organized in 1898 for the anti-alcoholic cause. Finnish workers have been marching since 1906.

Since 1979, May Day has been a day of official celebration and Labour Day. Today, May Day is a holiday, but not a religious holiday.

· The May Day celebrations in Finland.

The celebration of the first of May in Finland already begins on April 30, my eve of the first of May "vappuaatto". In Helsinki, it is traditional for students to wear the white student cap on the Havis Amanda statue (a famous statue of a naked woman in downtown Helsinki) at 6 p.m. sharp, the time from which everyone is allowed to wear their cap. This tradition began in 1932 and similar ceremonies are held in other Finnish cities on other statues such as the Statue in the "Tori" Square in downtown Kuopio.

After the "starting signal", the festivities begin and a carnival atmosphere spreads among the usually reserved Finns. The market stands, set up in the streets and squares of the cities, offer all kinds of junk for the carnival: balloons, coils, masks, whistles, feathers... The festival lasts all night! and no matter the weather. Winter is over, it's spring, even if it sometimes happens that it still snows on May 1st!

In Kuopio we had a great weather on April 30th which was very nice. On May 1st we joined our association which had set up a stand by the lake near the city centre. We didn't stay very long because of the time there was....

And the alcohol flows freely. In Finland, Vappu is probably the most watered festival of the year, before New Year's Eve and Saint John's Day. Indeed, the Vappu celebration is the occasion for an abundant consumption of sparkling wine and other alcohols. We can even talk about a kind of national binge drinking. Unfortunately, excesses often lead to accidents, even fatal ones, and violence.

The next day, May 1st, is the opportunity to go for a family picnic in the parks or lunch at the restaurant. May Day specialities include pastries such as doughnuts and tippaleipa, a kind of fried dough sprinkled with sugar, accompanied by homemade mead called "Sima" or sparkling wine made from green and gooseberry currants.

The first of May in Finland as a student festival are from Sweden. The white cap ceremony is an important event in the celebration of Vappu. Vappu is also the biggest celebration of the year for female students in the schools. Wearing a wetsuit (different and decorated with badges) is recommended, as it allows you to celebrate without worrying about getting your clothes dirty. In general, student parties are very drunk and continue until the next day.

Ps: Lily of the valley is Finland's national flower, but is not linked to the first of May as in France.