Yes, Easter is a good time to visit Finland, March in particular is generally a good time to visit especially if Easter falls within this time period. Within late March and April the weather is pleasant, the days start to become longer therefore offering more time to explore and take part in outdoor activities. However, if Easter falls in April, it’s important to take into consideration that the extended daylight hours will significantly reduce the chances of seeing the Northern Lights. To catch the Northern Lights during these months you may need to stay up until 2am, which is not ideal.
Easter Traditions
Shrove Tuesday is known as Laskiainen in Finland. The day is filled with sledging and plenty of good food. Instead of making pancakes with lemon and sugar, the Finns warm up with pea soup and pulla, sweet buns filled with cream and either jam or almond paste (each variety has its own enthusiastic fans, you just have to try both to see which you prefer).
As Lent comes to a close, rather than wearing Easter bonnets and hunting for eggs as they do in the UK, children in Finland have a very different tradition. Virpominen takes place on the Sunday before Easter Sunday. Children dress up as little witches in bright colours and paint freckles on their faces. They visit their neighbours, carrying willow branches decorated with feathers and streamers and offer a blessing in return for sweets and chocolate eggs:
Virvon, varvon, tuoreeks terveeks, tulevaks vuodeks; vitsa sulle, palkka mulle!
I wave a twig for a fresh and healthy year ahead; a twig for you, a treat for me!
The tradition is a mix of Russian Orthodox Christianity and Finnish folklore. Witches were said to roam the land at Easter and the blessing is supposed to ward off these evil spirits, while the willow branches represent the palms of Palm Sunday.
Luckily, there’s no eye of newt and toe of frog on the Easter menu. In Finland, just as in the UK, the traditional Easter meal is roast lamb and there are two special puddings. Pasha is a mix of cream cheese with butter, eggs, candied fruits and spices. It is made by blending the ingredients and pressing them into a special mould in the shape of a flattened pyramid with patterns and religious symbols around the sides.
The other dessert is mämmi – a dark, stodgy pudding made from rye flour and malt that is traditionally served in bowls made from birch bark accompanied with cream and sugar. It cannot rival pasha in looks (in fact it looks distinctly unappetising) but is said to be delicious.
When Easter falls at the end of March, it’s a great time to visit Finland especially if you combine a trip to one of our resorts in Lapland with a few nights in Helsinki. The Northern Lights are still visible until early April and there’s still usually enough snow in the far North for husky sledding and snowmobiling.
This year, Easter is a bit later so the snow is likely to be melting but the longer days and warmer weather means there will soon be loads of opportunities to enjoy the outdoors under the Midnight Sun. Above the Arctic Circle, the sun doesn’t set at all between May and August. Further south, June and July are the best months to enjoy this amazing phenomenon and maybe take a lake swim and an outdoor sauna under the beautiful warm light.
We offer an amazing Midnight Sun holiday to Northern Finland. You’ll be staying in a log cabin with its own private sauna and take a husky hiking trip to a spectacular national park. There’s quad biking and a guided canoeing trip down the Ivalo river with a delicious lunch around an open fire.
To find out more just give us a call on 01793 939035 or contact us via the webform or Live chat.
