Suomija

Traditions of Finland

Christmas

1. Christmas, coinciding with the darkest part of the long Finnish winter, is a holiday which centres on the family and the home. 
2. At about midday on Christmas Eve, 'Christmas Peace' is declared over all Finland from the country's former capital, Turku. This ritual, based on Medieval laws, lost its legal import centuries ago, but lives on as a ceremonial 'opening' of the Christmas season.
3. Families gather together for the main Christmas meal on Christmas Eve. The high point of the evening is the visit of Father Christmas, who brings the Christmas presents with him in person. 
4. Candles and the traditional Christmas decorations made from straw help to achieve the traditional Christmas atmosphere. 
5. The urban Christmas is an entertaining mixture of children's plays, charity, commerce, worship, family holiday and peasant customs.  

Midsummer

1. Midsummer, celebrated at the summer solstice, has been very important since pagan times, especially in northern Europe, where the difference between the dark and the light seasons is particularly dramatic. 
2. Midsummer in Finland is a celebration of the countryside. Towns and cities are deserted, as this holiday is traditionally celebrated in a rural setting, preferably at a waterside summer cottage. 
3. Anyone who has to stay in town over Midsummer can buy birch leaves and lilac at the marketplace to help create an illusion of the countryside. 
4. At Midsummer, trains, buses and trams are sometimes also decorated with birch branches. 
5. In the old days, every village used to build its own bonfire, as Midsummer was a village feast day. Today, the biggest bonfires are seen at public Midsummer celebrations, where you have to buy a ticket to get in. 
6. Midsummer is the day of the Finnish flag and up and down the country the white flag with the blue cross can be seen flying proudly through the white night.   

Easter

1. In Finland, Easter has retained more of its religious character than the other church holidays, but secular traditions have also developed around it. 
2. Children grow grass on plates indoors, decorate Easter eggs and make Easter cards. 
3. On Palm Sunday, they dress up as Easter witches, and go from door to door with sprigs of willow in their hands. As a reward for reciting a special verse they are given sweets or money.

Independence Day

1. Independence day is the most noticeable of the national holidays in Finland. 
2. There are parades, such as the university students' torch parades, medals are awarded, and festive functions are held. 
3. From the 1970s onwards, however, Independence day celebrations have taken on livelier forms, with shops decorating their windows in the blue and white of the Finnish flag, and bakeries producing cakes with blue and white icing. 
4. Today, rock stars and entertainers have been accepted as worthy interpreters of Finnish patriotism.