Finnish Sliding Festival

Finnish Sliding Festival

First weekend in February

Patterned after the traditional event in Finland that celebrates Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday before the beginning of Lent, the Finnish Sliding Festival, or Laskiainen, has been held in White, Minnesota, every winter for more than 50 years. It features two large ice slides which are constructed at the edge of Loon Lake. People bring their sleds or toboggans for an exciting ride down the slide onto the frozen expanse of the lake. For those who want more thrills, there is a vipukelka which resembles a kind of merry-go-round on ice.
Other activities at the weekend event include log-sawing contests, Finnish music and dance performances, and traditional Finnish foods such as oven pancakes and pea soup.

CONTACTS:
Iron Trail Convention and Visitors Bureau
403 N. First St.
Virginia, MN 55792
800-777-8497 or 218-749-8161; fax: 218-749-8055
www.irontrail.org

Celebration days:
2011: Feb 5; Feb 6
2012: Feb 4; Feb 5
2013: Feb 2; Feb 3
2014: Feb 1; Feb 2
2015: Feb 7; Feb 8