Finnish summer.
For many it conjures images of nightless nights, lakeside saunas and Midsummer bonfires.
But for others, it means island hopping on a bike, competitive tree-hugging events, and vegetables boiled in milk.
This episode of All Points North provides tips and tricks on how to make the most of Finnish summer.
Listen to the episode via this embedded player, on Yle Areena, via Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
APN also explores Finland's penchant for quirky summer sporting events — such as the wife-carrying competition, the boot-throwing world cup, and the world swamp soccer championship.
"I think we want — and maybe even need — to have these fun and new experiences because these are the memories that help us to get through the long, dark, cold winter time," Tuija Heikkinen of Hyrynsalmi — which hosts the swamp soccer worlds — tells the show.
We also hear about the tastes of Finnish summer from Varpu Risula of the Her Finland channel, as she tells us about new potatoes, blueberry pies, and the cultural importance of 'kesäkeitto' (Finnish 'summer soup').
"This is a very classic dish in Finland, often enjoyed with fresh rye bread and butter, and it does personally take me back to my countryside roots because when people were done with the fieldwork, this was the easy dish they would come back home to," she said.
All Points North will be taking a summer break after this episode, but will return in August. In the meantime, catch the latest news from Finland at yle.fi/news.
Join the conversation!
This week's show was presented by Ronan Browne and Matthew Schilke. The sound engineer was Panu Willman.
If you have any questions or want to share your thoughts, contact us via WhatsApp at +358 44 421 0909 or at [email protected] and [email protected].
Users with an Yle ID can leave comments on our news stories. You can create your Yle ID via this link. Our guidelines on commenting and moderation are explained here.
