Life in Finland: Celebrating Vappu 2025 (May Day)
It's a great day to (hopefully) say goodbye to the snow and look forward to the coming longer, warmer days of summer.
Today is May 1st- a day to celebrate in Finland. For a long time I associated ‘May Day’ with the Cold-War era marches and rallies supported by the Soviet Union and international communist organizations, and the vandalization of McDonald’s restaurants around the world. Although there are some labor union marches and events in Finland, for most of the country it is a day for students to celebrate- and for everyone else to celebrate along with them.
The Origin of Vappu
Vappu (or Wappu) refers to St Walburgis, whose feast day was celebrated on the first of May. The Saint’s name became Valpuri in Finnish, and the name of the holiday shortened to Vappu over time. Today, the celebration has left behind most of its Christian roots.
Capping Amanda
The main event in Helsinki involves placing an oversized student cap on the head of the Havis Amanda (Hanta) Statue. This occurs the evening of April 30th, kicking off a celebration that involves enjoying traditional foods along with the public consumption of much alcohol with friends and family.
This year was particularly special, as it marked the return of the capping of the Havis Amanda statue itself. Last year, it was undergoing renovation and students instead capped a pink plastic statue dubbed “Manta's little cousin.’
As the statue is fragile, the students these days descend by crane to place the cap on Hanta’s head. This year, it was students from the Hanken School of Economics Student Union that had the honors. Here is Manta just after receiving her cap (you can see the feet of the students dangling above). You can also watch a short video of the event here.
About those Caps
Students graduating from Upper Secondary Education1 receive their student caps upon completing their studies and matriculation exams. Basically, these exams for the equivalent of High School Seniors take place earlier in the spring (March or April), with graduation ceremonies following shortly after. Students often get their caps at these graduation ceremonies.
These traditional caps are proudly worn by all who have them, young and old, on April 30th and May 1st. You can also see many students partying in their overalls. Students get these overalls during their first year of post-secondary studies. The color depends on the school and field of study, with patches representing participation in parties or other events. Overalls are a common sight in Helsinki during party times.
Student Ceremonies Across Finland
Students in other cities also have traditions:
In Kajaani, students place a cap on a statue of Elias Lönnrot, who famously compiled Finland’s national epic, the Kalevala.
And in Tampere, engineering students are ‘baptized’ in the Tammerkoski channel.
These are but a few examples of the events that take place on Vappu eve.
Vappu Parties
On the 30th of April and the 1st of May, many streets are closed to traffic allowing revelers to relax and enjoy the (hopefully) beautiful weather. Traditional fare for the celebrations includes tippaleipä (literally drop bread), which is similar to funnel cake; sima, a Finnish version of mead; and donuts. Low alcohol sima is available for children.
Tippaleipä:
Sima and donuts:
Champagne is also quite popular, particularly in Helsinki’s Kaivopuisto park:
According to Finland’s state broadcaster Yle, more than 21,000 bottles of bubbly were consumed in Kaivopuisto park during 2019’s Vappu celebration.
Vappu Marches
Although not a main focus of the celebration, worker’s marches do take place on May 1st. SAK, a trade union confederation, marches through Helsinki around mid-day. It is also a day when politicians give speeches.
Finland’s participation in the global Jesus March also takes place on May 1st, although this is out of sync with the global event which takes place this year on June 7th. According to the web page of Finland’s Jesus March, this is for very practical reasons:
The event arrived in Finland in 1992. At first, we marched in June with the rest of the world, but it turned out to be a bad time due to the summer holidays, among other things. That is why May Day has been established as the day of marching in Finland, when people are on the move anyway. (via Google Translate)
Vappu 2025:
Although it is not yet over, Vappu 2025 looks to be mostly peaceful, according to this press report:
May Day Eve celebrations passed off mostly peacefully around Finland, police said on Thursday morning.
In Helsinki, police said that they cleared the seaside Kaivopuisto Park of revellers before midnight Wednesday "out of concern for public order and safety". The operation began around 9.30pm and took about two hours.
Crowds of young people, many of them intoxicated, had gathered in the park as usual on May Day Eve. The police received reports of assaults, and of fireworks being shot off in the crowd.
The practical, good-natured Finns even come out to clean up after themselves. From a report about the 2024 clean-up:
May Day traces are not cleaned up by city employees alone. Volunteer garbage collectors were also present in the morning, as the environmental organisation WWF organised a garbage collection campaign in the park.
"The city is responsible for garbage collection with large equipment, but there is also a lot of small rubbish here. The first thing we do is ensure that no rubbish ends up in the sea," Kokkonen says.
According to Kokkonen, there were blankets, mugs, food packages – and an unfinished salad.
– It looked like there had been a big party here and it was as if a UFO had taken people away in the middle of the party, he describes.
(Translation via Google Translate)
Concluding Thoughts:
This post is an update of one that I posted on the same subject last year. As my audience now is roughly ten times as large as it was back then, I thought it would be a good topic to re-visit. The curious can find the original article here:
Unlike last year, no snow remains. Despite it still being a bit chilly, Vappu marks the return of Spring weather and long days (sunset will be around 2130). It is a chance to celebrate outside with family and friends, and one of the few times you can see normally reserved Finns showing a bit of their wilder side in public.
Once again, I am staying away from Helsinki for Vappu. My two teenage daughters will be venturing into the city with friends (it is perfectly safe, despite the public drunkenness). But I’d rather stay home, fire up the grill, and eat and drink some traditional fare- especially the donuts.
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All the Best,
PGR
In Finland, this includes students from both academically oriented high schools (called lukio) and trade/professional schools (called amattikoulu). The caps are subtly different.
Really cool to get this window on Finnish culture. I enjoy your posts.
loved this… I taught one semester each year at Aalto, and for the first five years it was always the fall-winter, the days of cold and darkness, but still, I loved those days (lived in Eira, down near the water on the sea captain’s street, Laivanvarustajankatu) - but finally, in my sixth year, I was teaching in the spring, and got to experience Vappu for the first time — it was fantastic, everything!