Vappu - the spring festivity in FInland
Created | Updated Apr 7, 2006
Vappu is better known internationaly as Walpurgis Night, it is celebrated on April 30th or May 1st depending on the country (and peoples enthusiasm for partying). Vappu is the Finish name for the event that is celebrated in Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Germany.
Vappu was originally the spring festival that happened to land on the same day with the nameday of a Bavarian saint called Walburga. The event developed a kind of pagan feeling to it but in the 1800 century it began to take the shape it is in today. The graduated students began to celebrate the spring festival whole heartedly.
In the modern Finland at least, Vappu is a joyous occasion celebrated by many. People alreadu graduated from the Finish "high school" Lukio wear their graduation hat (or student cap) and on Vappu this specific item of headware is also traditionally placed on the head of a statue in Helsinki called Havis Amanda. This tradition is carried out with a great show put on by the university students and a usual "prank" is also to add soap into the waters flowing to the fountain of Havis Amanda. The university students also hand out a gimmick magazine called Äpy, which is often printed in unusual forms, like in a toilet paper roll, a bed sheet, in a tin can or even a milk carton.
Vappu is a kind of festival type occasion that is celebrated by the universtiy students especially - and with great enthusiasm none the less. As it is typical for Finish celebrations, Vappu too is celebrated with drinks suitable for the occasion. The people party extensively for the whole weekend enjoying sparkly wines, beer and a Vappu drink called Sima (mead). Also certain pastries called Tippaleipä are typical for vappu, they are pastries that resemble doughnuts. Characteristics of Vappy are also insane amounts of balloons, whistles of many sorts and paper decorations.
Vappu was originally the spring festival that happened to land on the same day with the nameday of a Bavarian saint called Walburga. The event developed a kind of pagan feeling to it but in the 1800 century it began to take the shape it is in today. The graduated students began to celebrate the spring festival whole heartedly.
In the modern Finland at least, Vappu is a joyous occasion celebrated by many. People alreadu graduated from the Finish "high school" Lukio wear their graduation hat (or student cap) and on Vappu this specific item of headware is also traditionally placed on the head of a statue in Helsinki called Havis Amanda. This tradition is carried out with a great show put on by the university students and a usual "prank" is also to add soap into the waters flowing to the fountain of Havis Amanda. The university students also hand out a gimmick magazine called Äpy, which is often printed in unusual forms, like in a toilet paper roll, a bed sheet, in a tin can or even a milk carton.
Vappu is a kind of festival type occasion that is celebrated by the universtiy students especially - and with great enthusiasm none the less. As it is typical for Finish celebrations, Vappu too is celebrated with drinks suitable for the occasion. The people party extensively for the whole weekend enjoying sparkly wines, beer and a Vappu drink called Sima (mead). Also certain pastries called Tippaleipä are typical for vappu, they are pastries that resemble doughnuts. Characteristics of Vappy are also insane amounts of balloons, whistles of many sorts and paper decorations.
