Happy St Urho's Day!

I only had to drive one mile to cover the celebrations for this Finnish Holiday today. That's the beauty of Butte, you are never far from a party. To celebrate Fins and non Fins gathered at the Helsinki bar in Uptown to crown this years King of St Urho's Day. And of course enjoy some alcoholic beverages, wear green and purple, and have a good time.

The story goes that St Urho drove the grasshoppers out of the vineyards of Finland with a pitchfork and saved the grape crop. That's why for this holiday the women wear purple to represent the grapes and the men wear green to represent the grasshoppers.

When I got to the bar to cover the crowning of the new king it was just a mob I had to push through with my camera and tripod. Luckily, people are super nice here and moved out of my way and even offered up their spots close to where the crowning would take place so I could get my video from there. But then the man who was to crown the new king offered me a spot standing on top of the pool table. I accepted and the camera and tripod and I went up on the pool table and it was a good place to be so I could get some great crowd shots and all the action when the new St Urho's Day King was crowned. The new king received a purple robe, viking hat, and a stuffed grasshopper on a pitchfork. (Pictured below. The other picture is a crowd shot)

It seems silly and the guy who was crowned king may have told me he felt like an idiot wearing that stuff but at least everyone seemed to be having a good time.