Students tobogganing down the steep hill of Ullanlinnanmäki on Shrove Tuesday in Helsinki on February 21, 2023. Photograph: TONY ÖHBERG/FINLAND TODAY / Click to view the gallery.

“These things are cursed. Perkele!

The cold cabinets containing beer, cider and seltzers at a corner store near Kaivopuisto in Helsinki’s Ullanlinna district are all turned off in solidarity with the rising energy costs.

The students in blue overalls resort to grabbing energy drinks from one of the only cabinets that seems to be switched on.

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“Do you have your ID with you?” the cashier asks one of the students, a woman with bottle-bottom glasses.

“I haven’t been asked for an ID since the ‘80s,” the woman mutters.

“Well … we do have to check. … ”

After complying, the student-lady bolts out of the door, pops open the can, takes a swift sip and disappears into the crowd of around 1,000 other students holding lonkeros and beers in hand, many tobogganing down Ullanlinnanmäki in freezing weather with plenty of snow on Shrove Tuesday.

Here in Kaivopuisto — the famous park for its crazed May Day parties —  students of higher education from School of Arts, Design and Architecture; School of Business; School of Electrical Engineering; School of Engineering; School of Chemical Engineering; School of Science … and others have gathered again to celebrate Shrovetide, laskiainen, after the pandemic broke the tradition for the past few years.

But now there’s a stage where the most innovative tobogganists receive awards and celebrate by showering the front row of students with sparkling wine. A man behind his laptop pushes the enter button, and drum ‘n’ bass tunes echo loud and clear from gigantic speakers while people sitting on sliders of all shapes, colors and sizes continue darting down the hill.

They laugh. They tumble. They drink.

Vilma Kamthunzi, 20, an interior architecture student from Helsinki, arrives with a group of friends at the last minute. She, like her friends, carries a red round speed slider with handles on the side. One of her friends sits down on the slider that looks like a giant saucepan lid. Vilma gives a shove, but her friend moves only a few meters.

It’s Vilma’s turn. She runs and jumps on the speed slider. It gets stuck in the snow, and Vilma rolls down the hill.

“I should have brought a real slider instead!” she exclaims.

In any case, these folks have, once again, found the spirit of laskiainen.

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