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Finnish Easter

At Easter the Finns decorate their homes with self-painted eggs. Or they glue colourful feather on eggs on sticks, creating some kind of flowery thing. And they bring inside fresh twigs and put them in a vase with water to make the buds come out. The cute little green leafs are a reminder of the new beginning, just like the eggs. It is also a tradition to sow grass seeds on a plate with wet paper towels to grow light green mini grass that will be decorated with eggs and little toy chicks.

Typical Finnish things to eat on Easter are leg of mutton, (chocolate) eggs and mämmi, a traditional malt-like dessert.

Finnish Easter is a mixture of church and pagan traditions. In the old days people believed there were evil spirits and witches that you could scare away with a big fire. Especially in Etelä-Pohjanmaa they still burn huge Easter bonfires to scare them all away. Everyone from the village gathers around to admire the fire, and of course to really scare the witches away! Make sure to go to one of these events if you are in Finland around Easter.

During the Easter weekend children dress up as trulli (witch) complete with a broomstick and an old coffee kettle. The trullit carry little twigs that they decorated with painted feathers and go around the neighbourhood. Waving the twig the trulli wishes the person that opens the door good fortune and health. In return they will get candy.