04/03/2026
Finnish Friday 🇫🇮
Little witches at your door, blessings in hand. 🧙♀️🌿
Virvonta, or virpominen, is a popular Finnish tradition among families where children dress up as witches (think colourful old clothes and painted freckles) and go door to door on Easter weekend, offering decorated willow branches and wishing you health and good luck for the year ahead in exchange for sweet treats. This cute custom emerged from a blend of traditions: from Nordic pagan spring rituals meant to ward off bad spirits and bless the coming harvest, to a Swedish/Western Finnish tradition where children playfully poked fun at old fears of evil witches roaming at Easter.
Bonus points if you can sing the witches' rhyme: "Virvon, varvon, tuoreeks terveeks, tulevaks vuodeks; vitsa sulle, palkka mulle!" (I wave a twig for a fresh and healthy year ahead; a twig for you, a treat for me!)