FINLAND, Minn. -- Residents of Finland are busily preparing for the 45th annual St. Urho鈥檚 celebration March 13-15. This year鈥檚 theme is "St. Urho Makes the '20s Roar."
鈥淵ou can kind of either go back to the 1920s with that idea or you could think about what the next decade holds, because none of us really know,鈥� St. Urho event coordinator Honor Schauland said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 always fun to see what people come up with and the fun festive spirit people put into things.鈥�
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Who is this St. Urho? He's the fictional saint of Finland who is believed to have driven the grasshoppers out of the nation. The holiday originated on the Iron Range in the 1950s.
Official celebrations will kick off Friday, March 13, with the Miss Helmi talent show and beauty pageant. The event travels to various locations throughout town and at the last stop, the winner of the pageant is crowned Miss Helmi and will be included in the parade the following morning. Miss Helmi is considered St. Urho鈥檚 鈥済irlfriend.鈥�
Schauland said the order of the bar stops isn鈥檛 revealed before the night of the contest, so pick one of the three establishments and 鈥渨e鈥檒l show up at some point.鈥�
鈥淎nd there are special dinner specials and music at all three, so no matter where you end up, you鈥檒l have fun,鈥� Schauland said.
If you end up having too much fun, there is a sober cab available courtesy of Adam鈥檚 Auto Value in Silver Bay.
Festivities begin the next morning with a pancake breakfast at the Clair Nelson Center to benefit the Finland Minnesota Historical Society from 8-10:30 a.m.
鈥淎fter that, it鈥檚 a good idea to go downtown to get good parking or a good spot to watch the parade, because it fills up fast,鈥� Schauland said.
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If you end up at the tail end of the parade near the Baptism River, there鈥檚 always a tug-of-war contest on the bridge prior to the parade.
鈥淚t takes a while for the parade to get to the end, so that鈥檚 our entertainment while we wait,鈥� Schauland said.
Following the parade, there are crafts, kids games, a lunch and music from Steve Solkela鈥檚 鈥淥verpopulated鈥� One-Man Band at the Clair Nelson Center and other music and entertainment at the various restaurants and bars the rest of the day.
The festival wraps up Sunday, March 15, with the annual raffle drawing. Raffle tickets will be on sale throughout the entire festival, the proceeds of which go towards paying for the festivities.
For more information on St. Urho's Day celebrations, visit
