Finns love to take a sauna
Finland is the birthplace of Restaurant Day and Cleaning Day. The range of collective events has been expanded with Sauna Day, which is being held for the first time in Helsinki on Saturday, March 12.
"In summer Helsinki is full of various events. But our summer is short, and it would be nice to have something to do together at other times too. Fortunately, you can go to the sauna in any weather," says Jaakko Blomberg from the Yhteismaa association, which is organizing the event.
In Helsinki, there are public saunas, of course, but on Sauna Day you can also enjoy steam in private saunas that are usually not open to the general public.
Finns love to take a sauna, but many saunas are rarely used. Most often Finns take saunas at home with family, at their summer cottage, at the swimming pool or at a fitness club.
In addition to ordinary people's home saunas and hotel saunas, on Sauna Day doors will open to, among others, a "rock sauna" backstage at a theater, a yurt sauna, a barrel sauna, and various rooftop saunas. Some of the saunas participating in the celebration are wood-fired. The smallest saunas hold three people, the largest about twenty.
Entry to the saunas is free, but some may charge for firewood or possible refreshments. In Helsinki, for example, vendace hamburgers are offered. To avoid queues, those wishing to take a sauna in small saunas can book a time on the Sauna Day website.
Finland has 5.4 million inhabitants and up to three million saunas. "Sauna Day, organized by the Yhteismaa association and the Visit Helsinki tourism portal, introduces visitors to the diversity of Finnish sauna culture," says Blomberg.
Finns love to take a sauna – for example, at home with family, at the summer cottage, at the swimming pool or at a fitness club. "In Finland, the sauna is a natural way to get to know people, because as you enter the sauna you leave everything superfluous behind. Here, going to the sauna is a traditional part of a corporate or student party," reflects Jaakko Blomberg.
The idea of holding Sauna Day was received so well that the event may have a continuation. "The popularity of Sauna Day proves that hospitality is alive in the modern world," notes Blomberg.
According to the initial plan, Sauna Day was to be held only in Helsinki, but sauna owners from other parts of Finland and even from abroad, including Germany and Kuala Lumpur, began registering on the website. Anyone can add their sauna details on the site.
The organizer of Sauna Day is the non-profit association Yhteismaa, founded four years ago and specializing in urban culture. The association organizes collective events such as Cleaning Day, an open-air dinner in central Helsinki on Esplanadi, and art exhibitions in private spaces.