Kekri (fest)

Kekri, also known as keyri or köyri, is an old Finnish agricultural society-fashioned harvest festival celebrated in the autumn. It has not originally been tied to a permanent calendar date, but it was determined by the current year's autumn activities, but by the early 1800s its date stabilized at the All Saints' Day at the beginning of November.

Etymology

Kekri means residuum and refers to the remnant of harvest time.

Kekri today

Kekri tradition began to disappear with industrialization and urbanization of Finland, and many customs and traditions associated with kekri have been transferred to Christmas and the modern New Year holiday. The longest tradition remained in Eastern Finland. In Finland, kekri is now celebrated in Kajaani by burning the kekri goat ("kekripukki" in Finnish) built by the local actors. Incineration the kekri goat is usually linked to other programs, such as dance performance, music, street market, etc. In other places like Suomenlinna also prepare events annually to celebrate kekri.^[1]

Even if today Celtic-originated Halloween has gradually begun to penetrate into the Finnish feast traditions from the United States, kekri has still held its ground. In Finland, a lot of people, however, think the Halloween celebration has turned into a commercial celebration and people may not wish to have it associated with the All Saints' Day.

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