Laskiainen in Palo draws sliding fans, Finns

PALO, Minn. - For more than seven decades, sliding fans - and Finns - have gathered in Palo to celebrate Laskiainen, the Finnish sliding festival. On Saturday, crowds came from near and far to resume the tradition.

Laskiainen has its roots in Finnish folklore.

"The saying was that, went sliding down the hill, if you went really far then your flax would grow really tall next summer, and it was in preparation for Lent," said volunteer Vivian Williams.

The event has grown to become one of the largest ethnic celebrations in northern Minnesota - and it's considered to be the longest continuously held Finnish festival in the nation.

"It's one of the oldest-going ethnic festivals in the United States," Williams said. "We celebrate it more here than they do in Finland today."

Williams has been going to Laskiainen since it started in the late 1930s.

"It's amazing how many people we get, that are not local people, in fact," she said. "We probably have more out-of-towners than we have local people."

There's Finnish food, traditional music, and homemade arts and clothing, but it's the warm atmosphere that keeps people coming back.

"It feels like you can come here and just be like you've always been here, a part of the community," said visitor Suzi Elfstrand of Embarrass. "It is like a family. Last year I think somebody bought us lunch randomly, and this year we were invited to somebody's birthday party."

Elfstrand has attened Laskiainen for four years.

"[I like] The people, the heritage, and keeping the heritage going and keeping the heritage alive," she said. "It's unbelievable what there is. I don't know how to describe it. I really don't, except that it is a family.

Every year more than 1,000 people come to Laskiainen to enjoy the food, music, and tradition - and most of all, the slide down the hill.

"Going down it was really fast," said one young slider.

Whether it's good food, music or a fun slide down the icy track, warmth and hospitality continue to move Laskiainen forward as a permanent part of Finnish heritage.

"It's the essence of a community," Elfstrand said. "If you don't have the history and don't keep the history alive, the community will die.  You have to hang on to that community."

The festival continues on Sunday at the Loon Lake Community Center on Highway 100 in Palo, south of Aurora.