Laskiainen

Ecclesiastically, Laskiainen is a part of Shrovetide and is a Lutheran celebration just prior to the beginning of Lent, the 40-day season of repentance in Christianity.

[3][4] According to a third proposal, the word comes from the old Romance term carne lasciare ('to leave meat'), with the latter part having changed into a Finnish form.

An ancient European New Year's Day is situated around Laskiainen, which has led to many folk beliefs and spells connected to it in historical Finland.

[8][7] Food items typically enjoyed in Finland in Laskiainen include in many cases pea soup with ham, and cheeses.

The best-known Laskiainen dessert, often enjoyed either with coffee or tea, is laskiaispulla, which is a sweet roll filled with almond paste or strawberry jam, and whipped cream.

[12] In North America too, it is traditional in Laskiainen to have a meal of split pea soup with ham, and for amusement – as in Finland – to slide down a hill on either snow-covered or iced tracks, often on toboggans.

One of the places where Laskiainen is celebrated outside Europe in form of an annual festival is the community of Palo, located between Aurora and Makinen on the shores of Loon Lake in Minnesota.

[citation needed] Many Finnish-North-American groups and clubs host various Laskiainen celebrations, but the one which developed in Palo in the 1930s is notable for both its size and longevity.