First of May

Helsinki, 13 degrees

God put us here, on this carnival ride. We close our eyes never knowing where it'll take us next.

Today one of the biggest celebrations of the year anchored Helsinki - wonderful Vappu! Vappu is truly our annual spring carnival when the city comes to life with balloons, paper serpentine, music, funnel cake, mead, champagne - so much color and enjoyment!

The highlight of this carnival is the crowning of the Havis Amanda statue that symbolizes Helsinki (the birth of the City) - a woman that has risen from the sea. In lack of a video from today's crowning, I'll add a video from last year to show you what Vappu is all about! Enjoy!


Today during work when I visited a café during my lunch break, I saw the center of Helsinki filled with wonderfully happy people! People were relaxed and having a great time with their family and friends!

My workplace celebrated Vappu already last Friday since many of my colleagues had taken this day off. Tomorrow, on the other hand, is a public holiday in Finland. I intend to spend today with my special someone, and tomorrow with a dear friend, strolling around the party filled streets of my beloved city in my graduation hat - the sailor hat looking piece of headwear you see on the picture below.

You can read about last year's Vappu celebrations in my blog post here. I hope the readers I find in Finland have an amazing Vappu, for the rest of you - I'll let you know how the festivities have gone in short!

Source

Do you have a special festivity/carnival in your country? How do you celebrate it?

What's your opinion?

  1. Oh wow, this sounds like such a fun and amazing celebration! I didn't know about it until now. Very interesting to learn more about it! :)
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    1. Yes it was! Happy you like it! How do you celebrate spring?

      xxx
      E

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  2. Hyvää Vappua sinne! :) Valitettavasti omat juhlinnat meni töiden yms. takia vähän ohi, mutta ensi vuonna sitten ;)

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    1. Kiitos samoin! :) Mulla on ennen aina mennyt töiden takia ohi, joten tänä vuonna olin iloinen et pystyin ottamaan siitä kaiken irti!

      xxx
      E

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  3. We have so many carnivals around here. It's insane but super fun during the summer.

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    1. Yes, we have festivals as well during summer, but Vappu is special since it's our main spring carnival! :)

      xxx
      E

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  4. Wow, Vappu looks like so much fun! I don't know of many festivals in the UK, there are a few carnivals but they seem to be confined to one city. Although there are a few music festivals around, and religious events too.

    My boyfriend's mum is polish though, and apparently on easter monday they have a huge water fight, which sounds fun! xx

    www.almostdelightful.com

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    1. Yes, Vappu is definately fun!
      Haha, that water fight sounds like fun as well!

      xxx
      E

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  5. Hi dear, thanks for sharing this traditional day with me, you probably know by now how i love learning about different cultures. It sounds really great, we just had a few public holidays this weekend, but no specific celebrations have been held. I wish we had more carnivals like this one, its unifying and fun at the same time :)

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    1. I'm happy that you enjoyed reading about Vappu :)

      xxx
      E

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  6. Looks fun! love this post!


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