The bear rolls over in its den tomorrow. Heikinpaiva celebrations in Hancock bring the community together and mark a halfway point in the season. In the morning, organizers will arrive at the Quincy Green and begin setting up kicksleds for kids and Finnish folk games. They will also prepare for the parade and set up the Heikinpaiva tori.
Some people do have some products that they sell through our Torii market, which is always the most popular part of the festival. Others enjoy dancing. There are still others who enjoy playing music for dancing or listening. Some people are into just expressing themselves with what they wear, or they might let loose for a day and take part in a wife-carrying contest or a kick sled race. That’s not something you can do every day, anywhere, let alone the copper country. – David Maki, Marketing Coordinator, Copper Country Finns and Friends
Finns and Friends organizer David Maki says he enjoys seeing so many people from the Copper Country out during the parade. The costumes allow people to become someone else for a short time.
One of the more popular parts of the Heikinpaiva Parade are the Finnish-American and Finnish costumes that appear each year. It’s a lot of fun for people to kind of become someone different for about an hour and play the role of a character from Finnish folklore or from Finnish-American culture. It’s a joy to be taking part in it because Finns are by nature kind of a subtle or reserved people and for them to discover the many reasons why their culture is something to be proud of is really something I find enjoyable. – David Maki, Marketing Coordinator, Copper Country Finns and Friends
As time has gone on, the Heikinpaiva festival continues to grow. Last year the festival included its own Sauna week experience and brought back the fun this year. It has also encouraged more people to embrace the region’s winter and create fun.
The primary reasons Heikinpaiva was created and why it’s continued and grown in the years since is because it’s rooted in the traditions of Finnish-American and Finnish culture and those who are invested in the festival are doing everything they can to make sure those traditions aren’t lost to history whether they’re handcrafts or the stories or the songs or the dances, whatever it might be people are finding their passions and making sure that they invest the time and the energy necessary to make sure those traditions aren’t lost to history – David Maki, Marketing Coordinator, Copper Country Finns and Friends
Heikinpaiva festivities will begin at 10 am when the tori market opens inside the Heritage Center and First United Methodist church. The parade will start at 11 am.
After the parade, the community will take part in fun games like the wife-carrying contest, begin to dance in the bear spiral, or travel down the street to the Copper Country Community Arts Center for the Animal Life: Art from the Kalevala exhibit.
In the evening the community will join us for dinner and dancing at the Finnish American Heritage Center. Those interested in learning more about Heikinpaiva activities in Hancock tomorrow can find more details here.
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