We celebrate Kvenfolkets Day with "vasta" and a bonfire at the wavebreaker tip. All day long there will be "vasta" available for use in the sauna. At 7:15 pm Marju will show how to use "vasta" - sauna wip.
Kvenpoples Day, or kväänikansan päivä, is celebrated on March 16th every year to mark Kven culture, language and history. It is the celebration of the national minority Kven/norwegian Finns. Kvens/Norwegian Finns are today a minority, but at the end of the 19th century the group made up the majority of the population in Vadsø. Vadsø is also called the Kven capital.
Whipping with "vasta" is a traditional sauna technique, especially widespread in Finland, Russia and the Baltic countries, where the skin is lightly beaten with a broom of birch branches. The purpose is to stimulate blood circulation, scrub away dead skin cells, and release a pleasant aroma of birch.
