Saturday is Finno-Ugric tribal day, flags raised
Saturday, October 22 is a flag day in Estonia, marking Finno-Ugric people's tribal day (Hõimupäev), which will see all state and local government buildings and other public legal entities hoist the blue-black-white national flag.
The tradition dates back to 1931, when the third week in October was set aside to look at the culture and society of all Finno-Ugric peoples, which includes not only Estonians but also Finns, Hungarians and many other national groups, whose homelands are predominantly located across the present-day northwestern Russian Federation and northern Scandinavia, and their diaspora populations in North America and elsewhere.
Private citizens, organizations and businesses are also invited to show support by flying the flag, which should be hoisted no later than 8 a.m. and lowered at sunset (which on Saturday in Tallinn is 5.54 p.m. – ed.), the government office says.
Several concerts and other events take place over the weekend including groups and soloists representing many of the Finno-Ugric national groups; Komi, Mari, Udmurt, Liivi (Livonians), Sami (Lapps) and others, with music and literary events continuing into next week in Tallinn, Pärnu, Rakvere, Narva and other locations.
The primary event organizer is the Fenno-Ugria Foundation.
More information (in Estonian) is here.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
Source: Government Office
