Is Halloween celebrated in Finland?

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AnnabelleIeve
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Is Halloween celebrated in Finland?

Post by AnnabelleIeve » Sat Aug 03, 2013 1:06 am

Halloween is a big thing for me so I was wondering if Finland does anything at all to recognize Halloween or anything similar to what Halloween is in the united States? Anything in Helsinki like festivals or celebrations around October for Halloween? :ohno:
Last edited by AnnabelleIeve on Fri Feb 21, 2014 9:52 pm, edited 2 times in total.



Is Halloween celebrated in Finland?

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Pursuivant
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Re: Is Halloween celebrated in Finland?

Post by Pursuivant » Sat Aug 03, 2013 1:17 pm

Well.. no and yes. Like theres no kids running around in costumes - thats Easter when the witches come out and want candy. But the adults have found a good foreign excuse for a pissup, so theres costume parties. Then again, its not "on the day" rather "in the vicinity"... These days they sell pumpkins and some people try carving them... but yeah but no. "Oktoberfest" of course is another good foreign excuse for a pissup... and of course then comes the "pikkujoulu" season... but really, what do you want to "celebrate" in horizontal sleet?
"By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes."

Jukka Aho
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Re: Is Halloween celebrated in Finland?

Post by Jukka Aho » Sat Aug 03, 2013 1:57 pm

AnnabelleIeve wrote:I was wondering if Finland does anything at all to recognize Halloween or anything similar to what Halloween is in the united States? Anything in Helsinki like festivals or celebrations around October for Halloween? I'd be really sad to go without Halloween for 4 years :ohno:
Check out these older threads/posts about Halloween in Finland:
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Oombongo
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Re: Is Halloween celebrated in Finland?

Post by Oombongo » Sat Aug 03, 2013 2:28 pm

it is limited to costume parties here, and of course an excuse of excessive drinking and pissing in public :?

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AnnabelleIeve
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Re: Is Halloween celebrated in Finland?

Post by AnnabelleIeve » Sat Aug 03, 2013 4:56 pm

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Last edited by AnnabelleIeve on Tue Apr 07, 2015 10:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Pursuivant
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Re: Is Halloween celebrated in Finland?

Post by Pursuivant » Sat Aug 03, 2013 5:39 pm

AnnabelleIeve wrote:And it's very interesting that children do a form of dressing up and trick-or-treating for Easter!
Well, its actually an orthodox blessing... there are actually quite a lot of "gangs" that used to go around houses demanding treats - "santa claus" used to be one - well, he is the "yule goat" just like there was a st.canute's goat... the kids going around Easter is a rather new tradition, the orthodox pussy willows and blessing was done by the WWII karelian evacuees and it picked up and amalgamated to what its now... though then also for Christmas theres of course the "star boys" who go around as a remnant of a medieval panto (you see more in central europe), as the "three kings"...
"By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes."

Jukka Aho
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Re: Is Halloween celebrated in Finland?

Post by Jukka Aho » Sat Aug 03, 2013 7:54 pm

Pursuivant wrote:
AnnabelleIeve wrote:And it's very interesting that children do a form of dressing up and trick-or-treating for Easter!
Well, its actually an orthodox blessing... [...] the kids going around Easter is a rather new tradition, the orthodox pussy willows and blessing was done by the WWII karelian evacuees and it picked up and amalgamated to what its now...
To elaborate a bit, the modern Easter tradition of kids going around dressed up as witches (which basically means they dress up as little old ladies equipped with a headscarf, a coffee pot, possibly a broom, and paint their face with freckles and put some red on their cheeks), handing out decorated pussy willow twigs while reciting a short rhyme / blessing in exchange for candy is an amalgamation of two separate traditions.

One of them is an old superstitious belief in witches who roam about during the Good Friday (Black Friday, aka pitkäperjantai [“Long Friday”] in Finnish) and the Holy Saturday. According to the tradition, the God’s protective powers are believed to be at their weakest in these days, so the forces of evil can do their mischief more freely. The original “Easter witches”, back in the old agrarian times, were people who held grudges on someone and tried to take advantage of this situation by putting a spell on the (neighbor’s, etc.) cattle. It was believed that one could cause misfortune to someone by sneaking into their animal shed and e.g. cutting the animal’s hair or skin in certain ways. In some parts of the country, especially Southern Ostrobothnia, there’s still a tradition of lighting bonfires on the Holy Saturday “to keep the witches at bay”, so if you visit that part of the country during that time, you can spot many of such fires in the darkness of the Saturday night by driving around. These days, of course, they’re no longer part of superstition but just a tradition and an opportunity to arrange a fun event — either privately with family and relatives, or as a public village party or gathering of some sort.

The other one is the Eastern Orthodox Christian tradition of kids going around on the Easter Sunday, handing out the pussy willow twigs (sort of like the symbol for the springtime) and giving their blessing and good luck wishes to the house — quite the opposite of what the witches are supposed to do.

Somehow — much to the dismay of the Orthodox Christians — these two traditions have been combined into the present-day mixed tradition where witches give the twigs and their blessing and except some candy in exchange. In Southern Ostrobothnia, the day is Saturday (as it is the day when the witches are supposed to be active), elsewhere it is the Sunday, as per the Orthodox tradition. As far as I know, kids from Orthodox families typically still follow the old, original Orthodox tradition, and refuse to dress up as witches.
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Oombongo
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Re: Is Halloween celebrated in Finland?

Post by Oombongo » Sat Aug 03, 2013 10:02 pm

AnnabelleIeve wrote: I wonder what people would say if a 20 year-old girl came to their door asking for treats! :lol:
I'll welcome her with open arms and a big-o smile from ear to ear
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AnnabelleIeve
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Re: Is Halloween celebrated in Finland?

Post by AnnabelleIeve » Sat Aug 03, 2013 11:11 pm

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