Vappu- A FINNISH Holiday!

I survived the biggest national holiday in Finland, VAPPU! May 1, also known as May Day or Worker's Day here in Tampere. Vappu offers an aberrant mix of activities; everything from political speeches, to parades, to a carnival, to fashionable attire, to dunking University students in the freezing cold rapids that run through the center of town.
I can honestly say, it was a unique experience! April 30, the night before Vappu, was a complete drunk fest where the University students and 13 years olds (not kidding) get unequivocally inebriated and place the "white hat" on one of the statues in the center (the big event of the evening). The stylish & chic white hats (that resemble your standard white sailors hat) have been bequeathed to high school graduates for the past 50 years. After the "crowning" of the statue everyone can wear their fashionable white hats until the fall. Then, there are the colored jumpers that all of the Technical University students sport the entire weekend. I really don't know the history behind these, but they do put a great deal of love into their jumpers and spice them up with "flare", a.k.a. embroidered patches. The white hats and colored jumpers are the standard uniform for Vappu day. At 1 p.m., as a rite of passage, the freshman at the Technical University are hoisted up in a crane and literally dunked in the rapids. All of the Finns come out for this day, with the whole family, and picnic (and drink a lot... in true Finn fashion) as the entertaining MC keeps the crowd aroused for about 4 hours of student dunking. I enjoyed the eccentric Vappu, as the sun was shining and I truly got to feel the wacky Finnish culture in full-effect!