HANCOCK – In 1998, Jim Kurtti attended a conference in Washington, D.C. called Project 34, which had the goal of preserving Finnish culture for third- and fourth-generation Finnish Americans.

At the Project 34 gathering, Kurtti, who is now chairman of the Finnish Theme Committee, said someone mentioned some sort of Finnish festival needs to take place somewhere in the country.

“He pointed at me,” Kurtti said.

When he got back to Hancock from D.C., Kurtti said he approached the Hancock Finnish Theme Committee about creating a winter festival with a Finnish-culture theme. However, it wasn’t the first time the FTC entertained such an idea.

“They tried for a festival for years, but it never got any traction,” he said.

This time, the FTC did create a festival, which they decided to call Heikinpiv, which means St. Henrik’s Day, and is named after the patron saint of Finland.

Kurtti said he didn’t want the festival to be only in a conference room somewhere, but he wanted it to be outdoors and accessible to the public.

The first Heikinpiv festival in 1999 lasted just one day and consisted of a parade, tori (market) and live music.

There were some members of Project 34 at what is now the Magnuson Franklin Square Inn waiting to go to the festival, and they were brought over to Hancock by bus and greeted by a large crowd of people.

“They were lined up for this first-ever winter parade,” he said.

Since that first Heikinpiv festival in 1999, Kurtti said the event has grown to include events over three weeks, including hand crafts, baking lessons and music lessons. The big day for the festival is the last Saturday in the month when the parade and outdoor events take place, such as whip-sled rides and kick-sled races for children, wife carry and polar bear dive into Portage Lake.

Kurtti said there are a few other similar Heikinpiv-type events in other cities, but most aren’t as significant as the Hancock event.

“There are smaller ones,” he said.

Closest to Hancock is the Makinen, Minnesota, festival, which lasts two days.

“It’s quite similar to ours,” he said.

There is another festival in Perseinjoki, Finland, and one in Fitchburg, Massachusetts.