Finnish holidays

Finland's year has a rhythm, and once you know it the empty office on a Thursday in May and the deserted city in late June stop being mysteries. Here is the whole calendar, the three kinds of day it contains, and what to do on each if you are new here and nobody has invited you to a cottage yet.

This year's calendar

Dates move each year for Easter, Ascension, Midsummer and All Saints. Bookmark this page; it updates itself.

Three kinds of special day

Public holidays (pyhäpäivät): shops, offices and most services close, and public transport runs a Sunday timetable. Employees get the day off or holiday pay.

Flag days (liputuspäivät): the flag flies, the day is otherwise normal. Mother's Day, Father's Day, Runeberg Day and Kalevala Day are the ones you will notice, because of the cakes and the brunch bookings.

Traditions without a day off: Laskiainen (sledding and pea soup), Shrove buns, the Christmas period from the first of Advent, Vappu on the evening of 30 April.

The year in five moments

Vappu, 1 May. Finland's carnival. On the evening of 30 April students in white caps wash the statue of Havis Amanda in Helsinki, and the whole country picnics in parks on 1 May with sima (a mild home-brewed mead) and tippaleipä (funnel cake). If you have any kind of graduation cap, wear it. Vappu explained.

Juhannus, Midsummer. The Friday and Saturday closest to 24 June. Cities empty, cottages fill, bonfires burn by every lake and the sun does not really set. If you have no cottage, the public saunas, the Seurasaari bonfire in Helsinki and the beaches are where the other newcomers are. Juhannus explained.

Independence Day, 6 December. Solemn, not festive. Two candles in the window at six in the evening, the Presidential reception on television, and a quiet dinner. Independence Day explained.

Christmas, 24 to 26 December. The main event is Christmas Eve: the Declaration of Christmas Peace from Turku at noon, sauna in the afternoon, ham, casseroles and rice porridge in the evening, and Santa Claus, who in Finland knocks on the door in person. Everything is closed on the 24th afternoon, the 25th and most of the 26th. Buy food on the 23rd. Finnish Christmas explained.

Easter. Children dressed as witches go door to door on Palm Sunday with decorated willow branches, trading a rhyme for chocolate. Grocery shops sell mämmi, a dark rye pudding that Finns will ask you about and watch you taste. Good Friday and Easter Monday are fully closed days.

What is open on a public holiday

• Grocery shops: usually closed on the big holidays, open with shorter hours on some. Check the door the day before; hours are always posted.
• Pharmacies: one on-duty pharmacy per region. Search päivystävä apteekki plus your city.
• Healthcare: emergencies only, through 116 117 or 112.
• Public transport: Sunday timetable, very sparse on Midsummer Eve and Christmas Eve after mid-afternoon.
• Restaurants: many closed on Christmas Eve and Midsummer; open on most other holidays.
• Alko: closed on all public holidays and Sundays; closes early on the eve.

The Finnish you need for holidays