Vappu/Wappu

On May 1 is this big event Vappu in Helsinki… but festivals are celebrated on the eve, so the stuff actually happens on 31 April. So anyway, on this day Helsinki get really crowded with students as they prepare for this significant event of “capping” the statue Manta at Esplanadi Park.

They are washing the statue

Then she is capped

Once she is capped, then everyone will put on their caps

Anyway, on this day, many students from universities will wear their overalls – different departments have different coloured overalls. And their overalls will have different “badges” on them, cos it’s up to you to decide how you want to decorate your overalls. Here are some examples of the colours:

Purple

Pink

Yellow

This guy has a lot of badges!

Haha I bought one so I wore one too! My department's colour is white with rainbow stripes. It was really fun being part of the amazing student culture that they have here! And actually on this day, many people will drink like crazy… so a lot of people were holding wine glasses and beer cans/bottles.