All Saints' Day

Since the old days, in Finland, after the end of the harvest, kekri has been celebrated in the fall . Since it happened to be close to the Christian holy day, in later times it has often been identified with the holy day, which is also popularly called kekri. Kekri was originally celebrated in honor of the god Kekri, the owner of the land, i.e. the god Kekri, who protected the cultivation of fields and the fertility of livestock. The more serious part of Kekri was dedicated to the dead, and then you had to behave with restraint. The traditions of the second day of kekri included the so-called kekri circling, i.e. kekri girls dressed in masks from Manala and turned inside out furs, rope hönttams or rope goats passing through the houses demanding to be heated under the threat of breaking the oven. In some places, bonfires were lit to attract elves. We danced around the bonfire and had fun