Hyvää vappua!

It's Vappu time again. And as every year today, on the last day of April, the celebrations officially start with putting the cap on the Havis Amanda statue at Kauppatori exactly at 18:00.

Be there at least half an hour earlier if you want to see anything. And don't forget to get your sparkling wine beforehand. Alko closes at six and won't be open tomorrow.

Have a fun and sunny Vappu!

This was Vappu 2015

Vappu was again a blast. And the weather also played along just fine. Taken into account that both the day before and after were rainy it couldn't have been much better. Here are some impressions of Vappu 2015 in Helsinki.

How was your Vappu this year?

Picknick day

Do you have everything packed? Or are you already at Kaivopuisto? The big Vappu picknick at the Kaivopuisto park at Ullanlinnanmäki is going on right now.

It is the place to be. The rest of the city is going to be there as well. So grab some food, some sparkling wine and a blanket. And maybe an umbrella just to be save and head out there to celebrate Vappu and the beginning of May outside with thousands of others.

Have a great day!

Off to Esplanadi

Today Vappu starts. And the place to be for that is Esplanadi. At the lower end of the park people gather to see Havis Amanda get a white cap.

Havis Amanda is the woman on the fountain. And every year on April 30 she gets a white cap exactly at 18.00 from the students of the city. At the same time everyone else also puts their caps on. It is always very busy. So if you want to see something try to be there early.

Have a great start into Vappu!

Changing timetables during Vappu

Vappu is approaching. It is quite an exceptional time in Finland. And it also affects the public transport.

To check how busses, trams and metro opperate during the next two days you should have a look at HSL's website.

Get ready for Vappu!

Got your picnic stuff ready?

Today might not be the perfect day for a picnic outside at Kaivopuisto even though it doesn't rain yet. Still that is no reason not to have your traditional Vappu picnic. If it is too cold and unfriendly outside, why don't you just have it inside? With good friends around the perfect picnic can as well also happen on the living room floor.

Have a great May 1st and hauskaa vappua!

Mantan Lakitus

Today Vappu starts with Mantan Lakitus when the Hagis Amanda statue at Kauppatori gets her vappu cap. At 18:00 a group of students will lower the white cap onto the statue as the opening of the Vappu celebration.

You should definitely come there and see this spectacle that gathers a huge audience every year. Who ever has one brings their own white cap to the celebration to put it on and wave it at the time when Hagis Amanda gets hers. 

Remember to be there early (at least 30 min) if you want to get a good spot. And maybe bring an umbrella with you. The weather might not be as good as last week.

Hauskaa vappua!

Ullanlinnanmäki at Vappu

Here comes the Vappu special of one year at Ullanlinnanmäki. People are celebrating May 1st with the traditional picnic at Kaivopuisto.

To see how the view from Ullanlinnanmäki changed during one year you can see the pictures of the previous months here.

This was Vappu 2013

The sun was shining, the temperatures were mild and the whole city was celebrating. Thousands of people came to the traditional picnic at Kaivopuisto again and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Kaivopuisto turns Finland's largest and most crowded picnic area

the traditional brass band at Ullanlinnanmäki

white caps everywhere

salsa sounds and dancing

It seemed like the sun wanted to make up for the exceptionally long winter this year. Already Mantan Lakitus on Tuesday took place under perfect weather conditions.

people waving their caps

Amanda with her Vappu cap

Student's magazine in a box

You might already have wondered why some students are selling small paper-made mailboxes on the street this year at Vappu. Well, actually the mailbox is just the wrapping for their traditional Vappu student magazine Äpy which is filled with jokes and wordplays.

The text is in Finnish though but if you don’t speak it that well yourself ask a Finnish friend to help you understand some of it.

You can still get one of the magazine today for 10 € everywhere in the city.

Hauskaa vappua!

Have some tippaleipä

Vappu is one of the biggest celebrations in Finland. And of course every celebration call for its culinary specialty.

Around May 1 Finns traditionally eat the so called Tippaleipä. It is made of spaghetti shaped dough from flour, egg, sugar, lemon, salt and spices and deep fried in oil.

Tippaleipä is sold in shops everywhere in Finland at the moment. Go and get some as long as the shops are still open.

And don’t forget to head to Havis Amanda at Kauppatori around six today to watch Mantan Lakitu, the official beginning on Vappu.

Hauskaa vappua!

Hauskaa vappua!

Here you find a few pictures of Vappu celebration at Kaivopuisto:

Beautiful sunshine made this year's Vappu picnic at Kaivopuisto especially enjoyable.

A living legend in Helsinki. Pink Panther shows up every Vappu at Kaivopuisto. Today the chief inspector joined him.

Some also chose the sea way to get to Kaivopuisto and enjoyed the picnic on their boats.

You could see white caps whereever you looked.

As always it took a while to make it to the toilets.

The main ingredients of Vappu

sparkling wine, the traditional white cap ...

... and balloons, balloons, balloons.

Vappu picnic at Kaivopuisto

If you want to celebrate Vappu properly like the Finns do you should be prepared to wake up early tomorrow. On May 1^st Helsinki locals go to have an early picnic at Kaivopuisto Park. It is a very old tradition and takes place no matter if it rains, storms or snows. Luckily the forecast for tomorrow is pretty good. It is one of the things you have to experience when you spend May 1^st in Helsinki. Bring some snacks and drinks, a blanket to sit on and be early. Even though it’s a big park it’s going to be packed. The later you come the tougher it will be to find a spot to sit down. Many groups and families have traditional spots where they are every year. To reserve it they go through the trouble of coming there already at 7 in the morning (some might already be there the night before).

But you don’t have to sit down. You can also just walk around and enjoy the atmosphere.

Hyvää vappua!