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Today I will tell you all about our Vappu experience.

DB’s friend and colleague is a genial Finnish guy named Tero. Via Tero, we had heard snippets about Vappu and frankly we thought it sounded rather strange, though jolly. This year Tero invited us to Helsinki to find out how Vappu is celebrated Helsinki-style.

Vappu is the Finnish name given to their celebrations which take place on April 30 and May 1 each year. The aetiology of the celebrations is somewhat mixed, incorporating May Day, Labour Day and Walpurgis Night. The main thrust of the celebrations have been taken over by students, which is no bad thing because, as we all know, students know how to party.

The festivities begin late in the afternoon of April 30, when thousands of people gather in the market place in Helsinki for the bathing (a gentle word for what is actually scrubbing with brooms and foam) and subsequent capping of a statue called the Havis Amanda or “Manta” (a voluptuous, bronze naked lady).

The white student cap is central to the celebrations. The caps are presented on graduation from high school, although some Technology undergraduates receive a special tasselled cap on completion of their first year of university studies. Once Manta has been capped everyone waves their caps in the air and then dons them for the rest of the celebrations.

Everyone is bedecked in paper party streamers, balloons, flags and similar festive accessories. The students wear sturdy overalls, in different colours depending on which university faculty they belong to. The overalls are often covered in patch badges and the insignia of sponsors. I haven’t quite been able to establish the history of the overalls, but Tero tells me it is so the students can sleep in the mud or gutter (which given the amount people drink, is a sensible precaution!).

After the capping, DB and I followed the crowd up to Senate Square, getting temporarily stuck en route in an immovable crush of people, apparently caused by a small group, concerned about the potential damage to their bag of booze!

I was very hungry by the time we reached Senate Square, having (a) not eaten anything since breakfast and (b) experienced a lot of energy-sapping excitement. Clearly, there is some happy karma at work on Vappu as no sooner had I whinged about my growling stomach, a Vappu cake (or tippaleipä) and a small cup of miscellaneous-but-pleasant drink was thrust into our hands by neon-coated benefactors.

DB demonstrating how to eat a Vappu cake

We pretty much called it a night after that and went back to our lodgings. We were staying at a great hotel called Klaus K. It sported a nice Italian restaurant which we ate at that evening.

We woke early to our alarm on May Day and eschewed the hotel breakfast for something more exciting and de rigeur for Vappu – a breakfast picnic in Kaivopuisto Park (I think that’s where we were!).

I’m not usually one to tuck into Champagne and sparkling wine before 9am, but I made an exception on this bright, cold spring day! We had contributed some English cheeses to the picnic, but we also enjoyed herring on rye (if I’m completely honest, I didn’t enjoy that so much), salad, potatoes, skewers of meat and vegetables, chocolate and coffee cake.

I was impressed with how well-equipped the picnic was with a fold-out picnic table, tablecloth, portable gas-fuelled barbeque, etc. However, there were some seriously well-organised picnics going on: with tents and full dinner settings and so on. A nearby picnic party were even dressed in white tie and tails! Needless to say, everyone wears their white student cap. It was quite a sight.

After the picnic we took a brief trip with Tero, his wife and two small ones to Linnanmäki, an amusement park. The children were far more adventurous than I, although we took an aerial train ride and saw some good veiws of the city.

And that was it. Back to London.

Next post: Tallinn.