Vehicle traffic will be limited in certain central Helsinki areas for May Day celebrations

print this

Once again some of the streets in Central Helsinki will be reserved for pedestrians only for the duration of the May Eve and May Day celebrations.
      The streets in the most popular areas among the May revellers will be closed to traffic from 17:00 onwards on May Eve.
      The surroundings of the Havis Amanda statue, Unioninkatu and Eteläranta will open again for road traffic at 5:30 on May Day morning, and the rest of the streets later at 18:00.
      Even parking will be forbidden on the streets dedicated to pedestrians.
      During the festivities the Helsinki Police Department will intensify the monitoring of general order and safety in the city.
      Vappu, or May Eve and May Day, is traditionally a rather liquid festival and things occasionally get out of hand.
     
To reduce the number of wallet thefts, the police encourage people to look after their belongings and keep the zippers of their bags closed.
      If such a crime against property takes place one should report it as soon as possible.
      One should also remember one’s own outfit at the time of the crime. This will make it easier to look for the incident from the CCTV footage from the city’s numerous surveillance cameras.
     
Especially in the Kaivopuisto Park (the centre of proceedings on May Day morning) the City of Helsinki is preparing for the additional garbage load by providing a record number of rubbish bins.
      The total capacity of the provided bins is 574,000 litres. In addition, 184 portable toilets and 24 urinals have been reserved for the use of the May Day revellers.
      For disposable barbeques there are separate collection points, so that normal litter boxes will not catch fire.
      A collection campaign for sparkling wine bottles has been organised in cooperation with Helsingin Sanomat. Twenty bottles earns the collector a cinema ticket.
     
"May Day gives us all a chance to demonstrate our level of education, which is allegedly the highest in the world”, says Helsinki Deputy Mayor Pekka Sauri (Green) in his May Day greeting. “The city is our home, not just machinery to run around cleaning after people’s mess.”
      Time will tell just how many of the world’s most highly-educated and enlightened people will find themselves in an emergency room or a police cell on Saturday or Sunday.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Southern Finland promised the best of the May Day weather (28.4.2010)

See also:
  Buying technology students´ spoof publication Äpy is practically a civic duty on May Day in Helsinki (30.4.2009)

Helsingin Sanomat