01The story of Kekri
Before the calendar turned, the harvest did.
02The turning year
Kekri had no fixed date. It depended on the weather and on the progress of the work, and usually fell somewhere between Michaelmas and All Saints.34
The ring is a teaching model, not a historical calendar. Each month is shaded by its real hours of daylight in Nurmes; the amber band marks the approximate Kekri window.
Explore the year
5.1 h of daylight in Nurmes mid-month
Outside the Kekri window
8.2 h of daylight in Nurmes mid-month
Outside the Kekri window
11.2 h of daylight in Nurmes mid-month
Outside the Kekri window
14.6 h of daylight in Nurmes mid-month
Outside the Kekri window
17.7 h of daylight in Nurmes mid-month
Outside the Kekri window
20.0 h of daylight in Nurmes mid-month
Outside the Kekri window
19.0 h of daylight in Nurmes mid-month
Outside the Kekri window
15.9 h of daylight in Nurmes mid-month
Outside the Kekri window
12.6 h of daylight in Nurmes mid-month
Kekri window (approximate)
Michaelmas, 29/9, opens the window. Animals came in from the pastures and some were slaughtered for the winter.42
9.4 h of daylight in Nurmes mid-month
Kekri window (approximate)
The heart of the season. Kekri was held once the harvest was in; the exact day depended on the weather and on how the work went.34
6.1 h of daylight in Nurmes mid-month
Kekri window (approximate)
All Saints, a Saturday between 31/10 and 6/11, closes the window. In the 1800s Kekri merged with this Christian day. For farmhands and maids a free week followed.12
4.0 h of daylight in Nurmes mid-month
Outside the Kekri window
Christmas, the feast of the lords, later took over many of Kekri’s customs.1
03The feast
Pispalan Kekrijuhlat. Ilpo Mikkonen, Tampereen historialliset museot (Tampere Historical Museums), Vapriikin kuva-arkisto, 2008. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Eating well was the heart of the feast, because food was scarce for much of the year. A sheep was slaughtered, sometimes the side of a cow, and lamb roast belonged to köyri.2
People ate throughout the day. It was the last fresh food before spring.7
Remembering the dead was central. Food was offered to them, and a festive meal was set out for the spirits of the farm, the haltiat and tontut.32
The church’s autumn day of remembrance, when candles are still carried to the graves, has roots in this older custom.21
The feast began on the eve with a sauna, heated early enough that the dead and the household spirits could bathe as well. Only then did the eating and drinking begin.2
04At the door
Kekriä vai uunia?
From the archive
Pekka Ruotsalaisen esittämä "köyriätär", Kurolanlahti Vatala. Ahti Rytkönen, Museovirasto (Finnish Heritage Agency), Kansatieteen kuvakokoelma, 1927. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
"Köyriätär kulki talosta taloon hupia ehtimässä"; olento tässä Kurolanlahden Vatalassa. Ahti Rytkönen, Museovirasto (Finnish Heritage Agency), Kansatieteen kuvakokoelma, 1927. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
A goat-like figure dressed in a fierce costume and led from house to house through the village, asking for hospitality. People dressed as the horned Kekri buck, and children feared him.23
A ghostly female figure dressed in white who joined the procession. Roles could be reversed: men dressed as women, and women as men.23
Today some towns burn a large straw goat. The archives do not show this as an old tradition; it is a modern addition.2
05Many names
Schematic only. It shows direction, not dialect borders.
The common name today. Its origin is not known precisely. It first appears in writing in Mikael Agricola’s Psalter of 1551, where Kekri is listed as a god of livestock.1
06The passage of time
Explore evidence across centuries. Dates refer to documented events or the dates of historical photographs; the tradition itself is older than the surviving images.
01 / 16 · INTERPRETATION
Before 1551
The celebration followed the end of seasonal farm work, rather than a single date shared by all households. Its exact age is unknown; an ancient origin is a scholarly interpretation, not a precisely dated photograph.111
02 / 16 · TEXT
1551
Mikael Agricola mentions Kekri in the Psalter and describes it in connection with cattle. This documents a name by 1551, not the beginning of the celebration.1
03 / 16 · INTERPRETATION
19th c.
Kekri and All Saints traditions increasingly overlapped. Regional names and local practice continued to differ; this was not a single national reform.111
04 / 16 · ORAL
Early 1900s
For many rural households, the end of the harvest meant feasting and a change of employment or a week of rest for farm servants. Accounts differ by region and household.12
05 / 16 · TEXT
1911
A newspaper account describes a 1911 celebration in the Niemelä croft at Seurasaari, featuring a figure by the hearth. This is evidence of a historically reported revival performance, not proof of the figure’s ancient date.8
06 / 16 · TEXT
1925
Contemporary press sources in 1924–1925 recorded and discussed local Köyri and Kekri practices. The periodicals give useful first-hand-era accounts, but any individual description may describe only one community.8
07 / 16 · PHOTO
1927
Ahti Rytkönen photographed a köyriätär in Kurolanlahti, Vatala. This is evidence of a particular portrayal at a recorded place and year — not an image of the Middle Ages.
Pekka Ruotsalaisen esittämä "köyriätär", Kurolanlahti Vatala. Ahti Rytkönen, Museovirasto (Finnish Heritage Agency), Kansatieteen kuvakokoelma, 1927. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
08 / 16 · INTERPRETATION
1920–1930s
Urbanisation and expanding Christmas customs contributed to the fading of traditional rural Kekri in some areas. It did not disappear everywhere at the same moment.16
09 / 16 · TEXT
1955
The Finnish observance of All Saints Day moved to a Saturday between 31 October and 6 November. This is a calendar change, not an official fixed Kekri date.1
10 / 16 · PHOTO
1972
Pekka Kyytinen documented a Kekri celebration held by the Kurkijoki Society in Loimaa: live performances, dancing and a communal feast.
tanssit Kurkijoki-Seuran kekrijuhlilla Loimaalla. Pekka Kyytinen, Museovirasto (Finnish Heritage Agency), Kansatieteen kuvakokoelma, 1972. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
11 / 16 · PHOTO
1987
Nurmes cooperative dairy held a producers’ Kekri celebration at Mikonniemi. An image preserved by Nurmes Museum documents the local agricultural community.
Nurmeksen Osuusmeijerin järjestämä tuottajien kekrijuhla Mikonniemellä.. Sanomalehti Ylä-Karjala, Nurmeksen museo (Nurmes Museum), 1987. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
12 / 16 · PHOTO
1988
A large producers’ gathering at Mikonniemi in Nurmes is documented in the Ylä-Karjala newspaper photographs. This is the history of this place — not a generic stock image.
Maataloustuottajain P-K:n liiton kekrijuhla Mikonniemellä.. Sanomalehti Ylä-Karjala, Nurmeksen museo (Nurmes Museum), 1988. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
13 / 16 · PHOTO
2008
Ilpo Mikkonen photographed the contemporary Pispala Kekri festivities, with torches, a lakeshore gathering and an outdoor table.
Pispalan Kekrijuhlat. Ilpo Mikkonen, Tampereen historialliset museot (Tampere Historical Museums), Vapriikin kuva-arkisto, 2008. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
14 / 16 · PHOTO
2009
A documented modern event shows fire as a strong visual part of the celebration. Today’s large burning straw goats should not automatically be described as an unchanged ancient rite.102
Vuorenväki ry:n Kekrijuhla. Veikko Niskavaara, Tampereen historialliset museot (Tampere Historical Museums), Vapriikin kuva-arkisto, 2009. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
15 / 16 · LIVING
2026
Palander House in Hämeenlinna hosts a Kekri exhibition from 10 October to 8 November 2026. Modern museum interpretation is one of the ways the tradition is studied and shared today.9
16 / 16 · LIVING
Today
Families, villages, organisations and schools celebrate harvest, hospitality and seasonal change in different ways. New forms are part of the living heritage; they must be distinguished from what the older records directly show.1011
Pispalan Kekrijuhlat. Ilpo Mikkonen, Tampereen historialliset museot (Tampere Historical Museums), Vapriikin kuva-arkisto, 2008. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
07The archive room
Each record carries its institution, date, licence and the day it was checked. Nothing appears here before it has been verified.
Search the national collections
Konginkankaalta siirretty Niemelän torppa Seurasaaren ulkomuseossa, kekriukko tuvan uunin kupeessa. Museovirasto (Finnish Heritage Agency), Kansatieteen kuvakokoelma. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Nurmeksen Osuusmeijerin järjestämä tuottajien kekrijuhla Mikonniemellä.. Sanomalehti Ylä-Karjala, Nurmeksen museo (Nurmes Museum), 1987. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Radio, 1965
Teacher Sauli Koivukoski describes Kekri and the servants’ free week.
Open the original recordExhibition
Online exhibition built on the photographs and collections of Ahti Rytkönen.
Open the original recordFIELD NOTES / RESEARCH DOSSIER
Ten questions, answered with sources. Select each note to examine what historians and living-heritage practitioners actually report.
Folklore describes a liminal period between old and new cycles, associated with restrictions on work, omens and fortune-telling. Its details come from regional traditions and should not be presented as universal law.4
08The story continues
All sources checked 15/10/2026.