Vappu
Vappu (Finnish Swedish: Vappen , May 1st) is the celebration of spring, students and workers in Finland . Vappu is a public holiday . The date and the centuries-old traditions associated with it are in the tradition of Walpurgis Night . Its current political significance corresponds to German May Day , but its social significance in Finland goes beyond that.
Vappu has been celebrated in Finland since the Middle Ages and since 1870 has developed into a great festival for students , and it is particularly celebrated by them. Finnish students first brought this custom to Finland from Lund University in Sweden in 1865 . Since the 1980s it has become common practice for representatives of all parties to give big political speeches.
General traditions at Vappu
On the eve of May 1st ( vapunaatto ) and on Vappu Day, the cities are firmly in the hands of students, especially those of technical universities. But all non-students who have graduated from high school wear their white student hats that day.
Many people celebrate Vappu on the streets of the big cities or with exuberant parties in private, ideally outside. Families buy balloons for their children. The festivities begin on the evening of April 30th with parties or in town squares and continue on Vappu with picnics in parks. For many, excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages is an integral part of Vappu.
The traditional drink at Vappu is sima , a fermented drink that contains lemons and raisins. Tippaleipä , a fried pastry, and donuts are just as much a part of today's culinary traditions as sausages with potato salad.
The importance of Vappu as Workers Day with marches and political speeches has been declining for decades.
Student vaping traditions
Vappu is the "highest holiday" for students at technical universities. Although all the other students celebrate on this day, many local traditions are associated with the engineering student vappu. Most students wear their student overalls (Finnish. Haalarit ) on this day .
- In Helsinki , the public vaporizing begins with the Havis Amanda statue in the center of the city being washed on April 30th at 6 p.m. and wearing a student cap. It used to take place in Tampere at midnight, as it does now, but has been rescheduled to 18:00 for safety reasons. Thousands of people watch this spectacle and drink champagne. For the Vappu picnic on May 1st, tens of thousands of people gather in Kaivopuisto Park , where concerts are also held.
- In Tampere , on May 1st, last year's new students will be “baptized” in the cold water of the Tammerkoski rapids at the Teekkarikaste (Finnish: “baptism as engineering student ”) . The night before, a statue was given a hat here too. There is also a student march.
In Vaasa , Joensuu , Jyväskylä , Kuopio , Lahti , Lappeenranta , Oulu , Pori , Rovaniemi and Rauma , statues are also given student hats. "Baptisms" of the new students also take place in Lappeenranta (here on a water slide into Lake Saimaa ), Oulu and Pori.
Varia
Vappu is also a Finnish female given name, related to the name Walburga .
