Penkkarit (more formally penkinpainajaiset, "benchpressing est, or bänkskuddardagen ("penkis, penkisdagen") in Swedish) is a yearly tradition among

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

upper secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

( fi, lukio) students. The event is celebrated in the spring of their final, usually third, year as the final day of school, before the start of the matriculation exams. Traditionally, the date of ''penkkarit'' is a Thursday in late or mid-February.Virkkunen, K. Penkinpainajaiset ennen ja tänään
Pyhäjoen kuulumiset 19.2.2003. Retrieved 9-4-2007.

The origin

Until 1919, the Finnish matriculation exam took place in

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

and was formally the entrance exam of this university. The upper secondary school students who wished to graduate left their hometowns for Helsinki, usually somewhat ceremonially. After 1919, the examination was conducted in schools. However, since the 1920s, the students stop attending classes in February, devoting themselves to solitary preparation for the exams which are held in March.

Celebration

The celebration of the ''penkkarit'' varies from school to school. Usually, the school-leaving students dress as for a masquerade, following a theme decided by themselves. The event often includes following elements *school-leavers visiting the classes of junior students, interrupting the teaching and replacing it with a parody class. *throwing candy at the junior students *visiting lower secondary or primary school, meeting old teachers and throwing candy *singing parodic songs about the teachers *presenting a humorous short film (Finnish: ''abivideo'') to other students at the school hall The ceremonies usually end with the school-leavers riding away from the school on

lorries A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

decorated for the purpose. The design of the decorations is usually a mixture of pride in and insult at their own school. Often, the students then visit the major local elementary schools. In larger towns, the ''penkkarit'' culminate at a parade where the lorries drive across the city at a slow speed, and the final-year students on top of them shouting slogans and throwing

candy Candy, also called sweets (British English) or lollies (Australian English Australian English (AusE, AusEng, AuE, AuEng, en-AU) is the set of varieties of the English language native to Australia. It is the country's common language an ...

at passers-by. The event is particularly popular among children, who come to the streets to collect free candy. For example, in April 2022 there were more than 4000 local final-year students in individual lorries and trucks that drove the students in around Central

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

.{{Cite web , date=2022-04-07 , title=Penkkarit {{! Tuhannet abit ajoivat penkkareiden kunniaksi Helsingissä – Kuvissa näkyy riemu ja karnevaalitunnelma , url=https://www.hs.fi/kaupunki/art-2000008735413.html , access-date=2022-04-07 , website=Helsingin Sanomat , language=fi

References

Education in Finland Rites of passage Graduation