For schools · Kouluille
Kekri,
hands on.
Five activities for ages 9 to 12, built on real sources and real archive photographs. Play on the projector together, or on tablets in pairs.
01Kekri Quest
One night, five customs.
Bring in the harvest before the frost, knock on the doors, light the way for the ancestors, read the tin and keep the fire burning. Each stop ends with a real fact and its source.
02Archive detective
Every photograph has a story.
These are real records from Finnish museums. Tap a photo to look closer, then answer.
-
Archival record · 1927Pekka Ruotsalainen as the “köyriätär”, Kurolanlahti, Vatala, 1927. A man dressed as the female Kekri figure. View the evidence
- Title
- Pekka Ruotsalaisen esittämä "köyriätär", Kurolanlahti Vatala
- Creator
- Ahti Rytkönen
- Institution
- Museovirasto (Finnish Heritage Agency), Kansatieteen kuvakokoelma
- Date
- 1927
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0
- Checked
- 15/10/2026
Pekka Ruotsalaisen esittämä "köyriätär", Kurolanlahti Vatala. Ahti Rytkönen, Museovirasto (Finnish Heritage Agency), Kansatieteen kuvakokoelma, 1927. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Case 1 of 5
Look closely. Who is wearing this Kekri costume?
Show the answer
The museum record names him: Pekka Ruotsalainen as the köyriätär, the female Kekri figure, in 1927. At Kekri, men could dress as women and women as men.
Source: Yle Uutiset, 31/10/2021: Kekristä alkoi kissaviikko (archivist Juha Nirkko, SKS)Point to: -
Archival recordNiemelä croft, moved from Konginkangas to the Seurasaari Open-Air Museum: a kekriukko figure beside the stove. View the evidence
- Title
- Konginkankaalta siirretty Niemelän torppa Seurasaaren ulkomuseossa, kekriukko tuvan uunin kupeessa
- Institution
- Museovirasto (Finnish Heritage Agency), Kansatieteen kuvakokoelma
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0
- Checked
- 15/10/2026
Konginkankaalta siirretty Niemelän torppa Seurasaaren ulkomuseossa, kekriukko tuvan uunin kupeessa. Museovirasto (Finnish Heritage Agency), Kansatieteen kuvakokoelma. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Case 2 of 5
Where was this kekriukko figure photographed?
Show the answer
The croft was moved from Konginkangas to the Seurasaari Open-Air Museum. Museums keep old buildings and customs so that we can still see them.
Point to: -
Archival record · 1987Producers’ Kekri celebration organised by the Nurmes cooperative dairy at Mikonniemi, 1987. The local paper reported that well over a thousand producers came to hear speeches, relax and dance. View the evidence
- Title
- Nurmeksen Osuusmeijerin järjestämä tuottajien kekrijuhla Mikonniemellä.
- Creator
- Sanomalehti Ylä-Karjala
- Institution
- Nurmeksen museo (Nurmes Museum)
- Date
- 1987
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0
- Checked
- 15/10/2026
Nurmeksen Osuusmeijerin järjestämä tuottajien kekrijuhla Mikonniemellä.. Sanomalehti Ylä-Karjala, Nurmeksen museo (Nurmes Museum), 1987. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Case 3 of 5
This is Kekri in Nurmes in 1987. Who came to the celebration?
Show the answer
The local newspaper wrote that well over a thousand producers came to hear speeches, relax and dance. Kekri was still the farmers’ feast.
Point to: -
Archival record · 1972Dancing at the Kurkijoki Society’s Kekri celebration in Loimaa, 1972. View the evidence
- Title
- tanssit Kurkijoki-Seuran kekrijuhlilla Loimaalla
- Creator
- Pekka Kyytinen
- Institution
- Museovirasto (Finnish Heritage Agency), Kansatieteen kuvakokoelma
- Date
- 1972
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0
- Checked
- 15/10/2026
tanssit Kurkijoki-Seuran kekrijuhlilla Loimaalla. Pekka Kyytinen, Museovirasto (Finnish Heritage Agency), Kansatieteen kuvakokoelma, 1972. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Case 4 of 5
When was this photo taken? Look at the clothes and the hall.
Show the answer
In 1972, at the Kurkijoki Society’s Kekri celebration in Loimaa. Clothes, hairstyles and buildings are clues that help historians date a photograph.
Point to: -
Archival record · 2024A pumpkin lantern, 2024. Carving lanterns was not part of old Finnish Kekri; the pumpkin lantern reached Finland through North American Halloween. View the evidence
- Title
- kurpitsalyhty
- Creator
- Katri Myry
- Institution
- Tampereen historialliset museot (Tampere Historical Museums), Vapriikin kuva-arkisto
- Date
- 2024
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0
- Checked
- 15/10/2026
kurpitsalyhty. Katri Myry, Tampereen historialliset museot (Tampere Historical Museums), Vapriikin kuva-arkisto, 2024. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Case 5 of 5
Is a carved pumpkin an old Finnish Kekri custom?
Show the answer
The pumpkin lantern grew up in North America and came to Finland with Halloween.
Source: Yle Uutiset, 31/10/2021: Kekristä alkoi kissaviikko (archivist Juha Nirkko, SKS)Point to:
03Record or myth?
Record, or myth?
Historians check claims against sources. Decide for each one, then see what the sources say.
-
1 / 8
“Kekri ended the farming year.”
Record. When the harvest was in, the old year ended and a new one began.
Source: Tietävä, Finnish Literature Society (SKS): Mitä, miksi, milloin?Point to: -
2 / 8
“Finns carved turnip lanterns at Kekri.”
Myth. Turnips were eaten at Kekri, but carving turnip lanterns was a British custom, not a Finnish one.
Source: Yle Uutiset, 31/10/2021: Kekristä alkoi kissaviikko (archivist Juha Nirkko, SKS)Point to: -
3 / 8
“A sauna was heated for the dead.”
Record. The feast began with a sauna on the eve, heated early so the dead and the household spirits could bathe too.
Source: Yle Uutiset, 31/10/2021: Kekristä alkoi kissaviikko (archivist Juha Nirkko, SKS)Point to: -
4 / 8
“Burning a giant straw goat is an ancient Kekri custom.”
Myth. Some towns burn a straw goat today, but the archives do not show it as an old tradition.
Source: Yle Uutiset, 31/10/2021: Kekristä alkoi kissaviikko (archivist Juha Nirkko, SKS)Point to: -
5 / 8
“Kekri always had the same date, like Christmas.”
Myth. Kekri had no fixed date. It was held when the work was done, usually between Michaelmas and All Saints.
Source: Jyväskylä University Museum: From Kekri to ChristmasPoint to: -
6 / 8
“Farmhands and maids got a free week.”
Record. After Kekri, servants had a week off, their only holiday besides the church feasts.
Source: Tietävä, Finnish Literature Society (SKS): Mitä, miksi, milloin?Point to: -
7 / 8
“People poured melted tin to see the coming year.”
Record. The shape of the tin was read for the year ahead. The custom later moved to New Year.
Source: Yle Uutiset, 31/10/2021: Kekristä alkoi kissaviikko (archivist Juha Nirkko, SKS)Point to: -
8 / 8
“We know for sure that the word “kekri” means “cycle”.”
Myth. Nobody knows the origin of the name precisely. It first appears in writing in 1551.
Source: Tietävä, Finnish Literature Society (SKS): Mitä, miksi, milloin?Point to:
Done!
04Order the years
From 1551 to today.
Drag the cards, or use the arrows, to put the events in order from oldest to newest.
- Mikael Agricola writes the name Kekri for the first time.
- Kekri merges with All Saints’ Day.
- A köyriätär is photographed in Kurolanlahti.
- All Saints’ Day moves to a Saturday.
- Over a thousand people at Kekri in Nurmes.
- Kekri is celebrated again.
05Make a mask
Your own Kekri figure.
Kekri visitors wore home-made costumes, like the köyriätär of 1927 in the archive. Design a mask, print it, cut it out.
For teachers
A 45-minute Kekri lesson.
- 5 min Open the Story page on the projector and read the first chapter together: why did the year end at harvest?
- 10 min Archive detective in class mode. Two teams, one point per correct case.
- 10 min Record or myth? Discuss each answer: how do we know?
- 15 min Kekri Quest in pairs on tablets, or the mask maker for younger pupils.
- 5 min Wrap up: what is a source, and why do we check it?