Mayday!

Today was May Day, locally known as Vappu – one of the worst (or best, depending on your point of view) collective must-get-wasted celebrations Finns are famous for. With most of the weekend spent researching C2C e-commerce & writing this one paper, staying at home yesterday was probably a good idea.

Now there is always something bad happening during the Vappu celebrations, most of it taking place on eve of May Day. Usually it’s limited to drunken people fighting, passing out in inconvenient locations, acting generally badly, throwing trash around, making a mess and defecating all around downtown and all that usual stuff that is now considered “normal”. However, this year some geniuses (calling themselves to be acting under an anti-globalization agenda) upped the ante by staging what can only be called a riot, with things getting so out of hand that riot police had to be called to cool things down. What’s really unheard of in Finland is that the rioters then attacked the police and the firemen who came to put out the dangerous fire, with several vehicles and people now injured. Real smart. I mean WTF is wrong with these people?! Is it really so difficult to figure out that they are not helping ANY cause with this kind of behavior?

Today, the actual May Day, is often celebrated in a much more civilized fashion than the night before – in Helsinki, it consists of people congregating en masse to the Kaivopuisto park. The beautiful spring weather was benevolent and people, including us, seemed to be generally having a good time picnicing there. And, as always, there were quite a few people present.

Some people also take the concept of a “picnic” to a new level with tents, tables, chairs, BBQ and some even come with a dedicated cook it seems..

Still, so as to not leave an overly positive image of the festivities, there are some downsides also. Whenever there is a party of one kind or another in Kaivopuisto, dozens of portable toilets have been rounded up there. Some people, mostly women for understandable reasons, patiently stand in long, long lines waiting for their turn to fulfill their lower-level needs – some others, mostly men again for understandable reasons, choose to do the same in a more public setting. Practically under some peoples’ balconies. That’s May Day in Finland for you.