Spectator of Kaljakellunta (= Beer floating)

When he worked, he really worked. But when he played, he really PLAYED.
Dr. Seuss

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I wanted to see what the Kaljakellunta was all about. We walked along the Kerava river and watched the floating beer (and other alcohol drinks) drinking youth float by with all sorts of bought and self built rafts. They seemed to relax and have fun. Some were wearing some sort of Halloweenish costumes and others had set their dinner tables on the raft. We also saw people barbequing on the rafts.

This is a spontaneous happening and the authorities have tried to declare it illegal, but this year they tried to make the river safer for the floaters. Since no one is organizing this and it's not illegal to use the river and people have the freedom of assembling, they've just had to accept this yearly beer floating tradition. This has spread to other cities in Finland too. Wikipedia tells me that the first beer floating was in 1997.

The floaters do leave a big mess behind. It's really bad for the environment. They pee and barf on the river banks. Leave their cans, bottles and other garbage behind. This year there is app. 3000 floaters. They started to float at 10 am. There was still queues to get into the river at 3 pm. They have no speed at all while floating. They more or less have to row to move on.

The river was filled with floaters right next to each other. I hope they take care of each others. Police and ambulances was visibly present.

Still it looks like a lot of fun for the young adults, if you don't over do it with the alcohol.