Most museums and galleries are open year-round, annd there is as much to do in the depths of winter as there is at the height of summer. Nevertheless, you'll probably have a better time if you come in the warmer months, either in summer or anytime from May to September. As well as the advantages of warm weather, summer is the time of the midnight sun. Winter north of the Arctic Circle is a chilly confluence of strange bluish light and encroaching melancholy. People leave cities and towns for summer cottages to celebrate the longest day of the year.
Bonfires are lit and lakeside merrymakers swim and row boats.
Enthusiastic alcohol consumption is also a feature of midsummer partying. The Pori Jazz Festival in July is one of the country's most popular festivals, but the Savonlinna Opera Festival , held at medieval Olavinnlinna Castle, is the most famous. For rock, there are big festivals during the Midsummer weekend, and big annual events, such as Ruisrock , the longest-running of rock festivals, at Turku in July. On the lighter side, check out the Sleepyhead Day , where on 27 July the laziest person in the towns of Naantali and Hanko is thrown into the sea. Lonely Planet Publications Pty. Ltd. All rights reserved.