leppu:

nurmesiandesign:

On Tjugondag jul, there has been a tradition a bit analogous to modern Santa Claus, where men dressed as a goat (Finnish: Nuuttipukki) would visit houses. Unlike Santa Claus, Nuuttipukki was a scary character (cf. Krampus). The men dressed as Nuuttipukki wandered from house to house, came in, and typically demanded household residents for food and especially alcoholic beverages. In Finland the Nuuttipukki tradition is still living at areas of Satakunta, Finland Proper and Ostrobothnia. However, nowadays the character is usually played by children and now involves a happy encounter.

Dialectical proverb from Noormarkku says: Hyvä Tuomas joulun tua, paha Knuuti poijes viä or “Good [St.] Thomas brings the Christmas, evil Knut takes [it] away.”

we still do this in my home village! my favourite celebration