Holidays

• New Year’s Eve (December 31st)

The New Year starts with sending the old one off. New Year’s Eve is usually a big party: lots of food is prepared and people wear their best clothes. Until midnight we eat, drink and dance. At 12 o’clock people gather in the streets with their champagne glasses, fireworks start, champagne bottles get opened. As a custom, Estonians pour melted tin into the snow or cold water. Later, by looking at the shade that comes from the solidified tin in the a candle light, you can see what the next year will be like. As long as the kids are small, people usually stay at home on New Year’s Eve but when the kids get older, they mostly go out with their friends. Lately a lot of big and glamorous New Year’s parties have been held. On January 1st  people usually stay at home and the whole city is quiet. You may wish a Happy New Year until January 6th – until Epiphany.
 

• Vastlapäev (second Tuesday in February)

This day is celebrated by many nations in the world as Shrove Tuesday, but we in Estonia call it vastlapäev or liupäev. This is the day that ends the merry-making time in winter and is the beginning of the time Christians call Lent. We in this country say that winter’s spine is broken now. A long time ago people used to go sledging in order to have a good harvest of flax and hemp that year. The custom of sledging is still popular although nobody thinks about the harvest any more. As a tradition, people eat pea soup, pork feet and vastlakuklid on that day.
 

• Independence day (February 24th)

This is one of the few times that Estonians bring out their flags. Military force demonstrations take place and the Estonian president gives a speech. Unlike in some other countries, our Independence Day celebration is quiet and peaceful.

• Easter

In Estonia Easter is not celebrated as a religious holiday as in many other countries but more like a spring holiday. Children often call it the “egg holiday”, because we eat coloured eggs on Easter Sunday. The eggs are usually coloured with onion peels, coloured thread, birch leaves and buds. Houses will be decorated with willow catkins, little toy rabbits and chickens.
 

• Jaanipäev (June 24th)

Jaanipäev is one of the holidays that many people in the world don’t know much about, except in the Baltic and Nordic countries, although it is summer solstice and the shortest night of the year. People usually go out of the cities to the countryside and gather around a fire to dance and sing and the party lasts all night long.
 

• Mardipäev (November 10th)

This holiday is more for men. In the national calendar the holiday is connected with fertility. Nowadays children dress up and go knocking on people’s doors to ask to be let in. There they sing and dance and people give them sweets, like on Halloween.

• Kadripäev (November 25th)

On Kadripäev everybody runs around dressed up as girls. Like on Mardipäev, kids go knocking on doors. They wish everybody luck and people give them sweets.
 

• Christmas (December 25th, 26th)

While Estonia was part of the Soviet Union Christmas was officially forbidden. Instead we celebrated Näärid on December 31st when also the gifts were exchanged. Nowadays Christmas is a silent holiday that everybody spends with their family and closest relatives and more and more people go to the church to attend the Christmas service. Christmas trees are brought in and traditional food (blood sausage, sauerkraut, meat, potatoes and gingerbread) is prepared for December 24th. On Christmas Eve Santa Claus often visits families with smaller kids.