Vappu

Vappu

May 1

Vappu is a national holiday and celebration of the coming of spring in Finland. This traditional festival rejoicing the end of the long northern winter is also Labor Day, and factories that are said to "never close" do close on May 1 and Christmas Day.
For students (and even gray-bearded former students), the "anything goes" celebration begins at midnight on the eve of May Day, called Vapunaatto, when they wear white student caps and indulge in anything not indecent or criminal. It's traditional in Helsinki for students to wade across the moat that surrounds the statue of Havis Amanda, a mermaid, and place their caps on her head. There are balloons, streamers, horns, and masks everywhere, and few get much sleep. On May Day itself, the students lead processions through the streets of Helsinki, and then enjoy carnivals and concerts. Workers in most provincial towns generally gather in more solemn fashion to celebrate with speeches and parades.

CONTACTS:
Virtual Finland
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, Department for Communication and Culture
P.O. Box 176
Helsinki, 00161 Finland
358-9-1600-5; fax: 358-9-1605-5901
www.virtual.finland.fi

SOURCES:
BkFest-1937, p. 113

Celebration day: May 1