University Students’ Torch Parade on the Finnish Independence Day, December 6

The Finnish Independence Day is celebrated on December 6. Independence was achieved in 1917, so 2015 marks the 98th year of an independent Finnish state. Traditionally, Independence Day, a public holiday, is celebrated quietly by lighting two blue-and-white candles by the windows for everyone to see from the outside, and by watching the President’s Independence Day Reception and Ball from television. As with many other odd Finnish traditions, this kind of celebration might be considered an acquired taste.

For students, though, the celebrations include instead an atmospheric torch-lit procession within the Helsinki city centre.

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The torches – an important part of the Independence Day celebrations for students

The student unions of the capital region (HYY, AYY, TaiYo and SHS) organise the traditional Independence Day torch parade of university students. Students follow the flags of their student union, and student organisation or student nation, carrying torches and wearing their white Finnish student caps.

The torch procession leaves from the Hietaniemi Cemetery gates at 5 p.m., and proceeds through the city centre towards the Senate Square. By the Presidential Palace the President of the Republic greets the procession. The programme at the Senate Square starts at 6 p.m., and includes singing by student male voice choirs, and speeches by the Helsinki Mayor Jussi Pajunen, and the representatives of the student unions. The event ends approximately at 6:15 p.m.

You can join the procession either after the flag of your own student organisation, or at the end of the parade. Be early enough to make sure you get a torch, and wear a dark over-coat out of respect to the tradition, if possible. After the torch parade, many student organisations, the student nations especially, hold their own Independence Day receptions or parties, or gather together to watch the independence day reception.

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Student organisations preparing for the torch parade with their flags ready at the Hietaniemi Cemetary

Although held on the Finnish Independence Day, the torch procession has its roots in times long before the Finnish Independence. In the 17th century, when the University of Helsinki was still located in the ancient capital of Turku, and called the Royal Academy, the torch procession of the students was a homage to revered professors and other dignitaries. In those days it was customary for students to escort guests of honour from academic celebrations to their homes in a torch procession as there weren’t any streetlights.

When the University of Helsinki was moved to Helsinki, these processions continued, but because at Helsinki there were wider streets and boulevards, students started also to pull the guests of honour to their homes on broughams while other students carried torches and sang student songs. After the foundation of the Student Union in 1868, students started to organise their procession in a so-called academic order”) and when the Emperor of Russia or the Crown Prince visited at Helsinki, the students marched on the yard of Imperial Palace (Nowadays the Palace of President) to sang for the Emperor and to greet the imperial family. When Finland became independent republic on 1917, the tradition continued and it was the President of the Republic instead of the Emperor who greeted and waved to the students from the balcony of the Presidential Palace.

The procession route of today originates from the 1950’s, when the famous General Mannerheim, a Finnish National hero, was buried at Hietaniemi and students started to follow the route of the funeral cortège from Hietaniemi to the Senate Square in their annual torch procession.

Today, the procession continues to march on from the Hietaniemi Cemetary to the Senate Square. The procession is both preceded and followed by speeches commemorating the part students played in the creation of the independent Finnish state by representatives of the student unions. Before the start of the procession representatives of the student unions lay a fir wreath on the Cenotaph of the Unknown Soldier to commemorate those who gave their lives to ensure the independence of the young state in the time following the Finnish independence. As most young men were conscripted at the time, many of these were young students.

The remembrance of the sacrifices made in the Finnish wars during the Second World War is very present during the Finnish Independence Day celebrations, and leads to a sombre atmosphere emphasised by the dark nights. This atmosphere, however, is lightened by the torches and singing students proceeding through the streets of Helsinki. The dark streets provide a beautiful background for the glowing torches which remind us of the Christmas celebrations that will follow shortly!

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Students carrying their torches in the Independence Day torch parade – there seems to be a pause in the singing at the moment!