Independence Day celebrated at Palace, in squares, and in front of TV-sets
Gala Reception features women and peacekeepers
Finland celebrated its 89th Independence Day on Wednesday in traditional fashion, with a flag-raising ceremony in the early morning, a military parade in Jyväskylä, and the annual Gala Reception in the Presidential Palace, hosted by President Tarja Halonen.
The television coverage of the evening's glittering gathering was probably once again the most-watched event of the year in Finnish households, where rating and berating the gowns is a national sport.
This year's guest-list included a good many representatives from women's organisations, in a nod to the 100th anniversary of female suffrage in Finland.
Also present in larger numbers than usual were individuals who had taken part in peacekeeping and crisis management operations, as Finland's contribution to UN peacekeeping marked up 50 years this year.
In all, around 1,800 people crammed into the building, and the public at large watched the goings-on at home, making the familiar judgements on the success and failure of dresses and the merits or otherwise of those invited. The Reception is attended not just by the great and good of Finland, but also by members of the diplomatic corps accredited in Helsinki. Last through the doors were former Presidents Mauno Koivisto and Martti Ahtisaari, accompanied by their wives.
Away from the Palace, around two thousand turned out in Hakaniemi Square in Helsinki for the now equally-traditional reception for the poor, hosted by Heikki Hursti.
Roughly 100 anarchist demonstrators also gathered in the Market Square to protest the goings-on in the nearby Presidential Palace and to highlight the inequalities in modern Finland. Police were out in force to avoid a repeat of the disturbances of past years, and the event passed off peacefully.
This year's Defence Forces military parade was held in Jyväskylä.
For the first time it featured troops from the Finnish contingent of the EU's rapid deployment forces, which are scheduled to become operational from the beginning of next year. There were also flypasts by Air Force F-18 Hornet jets.
The parade was marred for many viewers by the death of an elderly war veteran, who - in an apparent suicide - stepped out in front of a tank taking part in the march-past, and was killed instantly.
A police investigation is under way, but footage later published on the YouTube website seemed to indicate that the 87-year-old man had voluntarily walked in front of the approaching vehicle, leaving the driver no chance to stop.
Previously in HS International Edition:
Finland celebrates Independence Day in traditional fashion (7.12.2005)
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 7.12.2006 - TODAY |
Independence Day celebrated at Palace, in squares, and in front of TV-sets
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