Bonfire

Easter bonfire at Seurasaari.

For the first time we went to see the Easter Bonfires to Seurasaari island in Helsinki. My husband's brother and his Italian girlfriend were with us. So that seemed like a fun thing to do "as tourists". There were lots of people watching first the little bonfire being lit on and then the bigger one.

This tradition comes from Ostrobothnia region in Finland. In Ostrobothnia they burned Easter bonfires on Easter Saturdays and some do that even today. (The more common day to burn bonfires is Midsummer night Festival of course.) 



In the past bonfires were set to expel witches and evil spirits. The belief was that more smoke and sparks, the better. Witches and other evil spirits could not get through the smoke and sparks to harm people. So the aim is to get as much of smoke out of the bonfire as possible.