Today is Independence Day in Finland. This holiday is celebrated annually on December 6th and marks the Declaration of Independence from the Russian empire by the Finnish Parliament in 1917.
Finland had been part of the Russian Empire since 1809. Following the Russian revolution and the defeats in the First World War, movements within Finland pushed for independence from Russia and on December 6th 1917, the parliament declared Finland as an independent state.
Official Independence Day festivities usually commence with the raising of the Finnish flag on Tähtitorninmäki (“Observatory Hill”) in Helsinki.
A religious service is held at Helsinki Cathedral, and official visits are made to the war memorials of the second world war. Another event is the annual military parade by personnel of the Finnish Defense Forces, which is one of the big highlights and is a nationally televised event.
Some Finns spend the day watching the classical movie The Unknown Soldier from 1955 by Edvin Laine based on the novel of Väinö Linna, while others enjoy good homemade food, or simply enjoy Finnish winter activities.
An Independence Day tradition is for families to light two candles in the windows of their homes in the evening. This custom became commonplace during the 1920s and is said to recall a time when two candles were placed in the window as a sign to Finnish soldiers that the house would offer them shelter and hide them from the Russians.
Hyvää itsenäisyyspäivää!
Today is the birthday, in 1920, of Dave Brubeck, jazz pianist, (1962 UK No.12 album ‘Time Further Out’). Brubeck died of heart failure one day before his 92nd birthday on December 5, 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT9Eh8wNMkw
