Ben Garbacz/Daily Mining Gazette Hancock had its first Juhannuskokko, or midsummer bonfire at Porvoo Park on Friday to kick off Juhannus.

HANCOCK — For the first time, the City of Hancock hosted the Finnish tradition of “Juhannus” or summer solstice. The weekend featured a variety of events based in Finnish customs and heritage. Juhannus began on Friday with the lighting of the Juhannuskokko, or midsummer bonfire, and ended Sunday morning with a pancake breakfast. The weekend celebrations’ main sponsors included Visit Keweenaw, the City of Hancock and The Finnish Long Drink.

The Finnish Long Drink held an event Friday at Small Craft and Takka Saunas. Attendees could sample and purchase a selection of alcoholic drinks while taking a plunge into the Long Drink Ice Bath at Takka Saunas or enjoy the outdoor games at Small Craft. Visit Keweenaw Public Relations and Events Coordinator Jesse Wiederhold said outside Detroit Houghton and Keweenaw counties are the highest consumption markets for Finnish Long Dring in Michigan, so Visit Keweenaw reached out and pitched the idea of the three day festival and invited the beverage company.

“It means a lot to me, personally, working with these people that have done all these Finnish cultural events with the Copper Country Finns and Friends,” Wiederhold said. “It sure means a lot to all of us. We truly feel that we’re really just working towards something greater. We want more new things in Hancock. I mean, what a beautiful place to have events with all this improved infrastructure.”

Hancock City Manager Mary Babcock shared she was impressed with the engagement of the community and its heritage. “It’s been amazing to me, the participation and the attitude of people that are loving that we’re embracing the Finnish culture a little bit more this year than we have in the past, and people are ready to explore more about it,” Babcock said.

Next door at Porvoo Park live music was played by the band Rewind before the lighting of the Juhannuskokko took place. This was the first attempt at the giant fire for the city, and preparations were made with the Hancock Fire Department to monitor the blaze. Attendees took countless pictures and applause erupted, though high winds cut the bonfire short. The fire department doused the bonfire, giving the attendees another show to admire.

On Saturday Juhannus continued with the raising of the Midsummer Pole on Quincy Green. Once the pole was up, folks dressed in traditional Finnish and other Scandinavian regalia showed up followed by others in costumes resembling Finnish figures from history and mythology. Dancers from the Kivajat Finnish American Folk Dance group performed a variety of dances around the pole. Before the dances kicked off, it was announced the event was recognized by the Finnish Foreign Ministry.

Todd Gast of the Hancock DDA was dressed as the U.P. Finnish American mythological figure, Heikki Lunta, the Finnish Snow God whose origins stem from Atlantic Mine. Gast said Juhannus was proceeding wonderfully with the cooperative weather. “It’s a big part of our (Hancock’s) heritage and our history,” Gast said. “We really want to honor all the things of the past so we can go forward with who we are as a city, and recognizing that and really embracing it, is really one of the many things that we feel is amazing about Hancock. We’ve got a lot of artists and a lot of writers and we’ve got amazing recreation areas. These are the things that I think we do really well and that we really want to concentrate on and shine a light on.”

The day featured booths in the Finnish American Heritage Center sharing information about Finnish cultural activities, crafting and music through the Finnish American Folk School. The Center’s history and art gallery were also open to the public. Later on the Center would host dance lessons instructed by the Finnish American Folk School.

While these activities were going on, the Finnish Tori and Market were taking place atop the stairs to the Hancock Community Hub with live music on Quincy Green. Lawn games were available and a cornhole tournament took place as well as a “Wife Carrying Contest.” From the afternoon to evening, In addition to beverage sales, The Finnish Long Drink had giveaways of items like tote bags, shirts, koozies and stickers.

The Finnish Long Drink Sales Support Person for the West Side of Michigan Nick Westendorp said he was thrilled to see how the events were transpiring over the days of Juhannus. “I’m absolutely thrilled with how it’s gone,” Westendorp said. “It’s not every day that you get to help out with a Finnish festival– a Finnish Solstice Festival. It’s a magical time, a magic part of summer and it seems like we’re getting, aside from the wind and the storm last night, we’re getting great weather.”

Westendorp explained while The Finnish Long Drink events he has been part of were mostly community events, not many of them tied to the culture of Finland. “We’ve done a few things with different sauna places over the years, but to do it in a community that has so many immigrants and a diaspora of Finnish people celebrating and bringing their traditions here, we’re able to be a part of that with this traditional long drink,” Westendorp said.

Saturday night wrapped up with a concert and comedy show at the Orpheum Theater, and then Juhannus concluded with a pancake breakfast at Porvoo Park on Sunday morning.