Final-year students in general upper secondary schools will hold their traditional school-leaving festivities in Helsinki as usual. The final year students' lorry parade will take place in central Helsinki on Thursday 5 February. The lorries will gather at Merisatamanranta waterfront in the Eira district by 12.30 pm. The parade will set off at around 13.00.
The first lorries will pass the Market Hall shortly after departure. The lorry parade includes over a hundred lorries and nearly 4,800 final-year students.
The lorry parade route will be the following:
Eteläranta - Pohjoisesplanadi - Lönnrotinkatu - Abrahaminkatu - Bulevardi - Eteläesplanadi - Fabianinkatu - Pohjoisesplanadi - Lönnrotinkatu - Abrahaminkatu - Bulevardi - Eteläesplanadi - Eteläranta - Pohjoisesplanadi - Päävartiontori/Meritullintori – Pohjoisranta.
The lorries will drive the route twice.
The formal dance is part of cultural education
Nearly 650 second-year students in general upper secondary schools will have their traditional dance at the Helsinki Ice Hall on 5 February at 14.00. The event will last approximately 1.5 hours, and admission is free for the public.
The formal dance for second-year students will include students from the City of Helsinki's Mäkelänrinne Upper Secondary Schools and Konepaja Upper Secondary Schools for Adults. Private general upper secondary schools taking part in the event are Apollo School, Elias-koulu School, The English School, the European School of Helsinki, Deutsche Schule Helsinki and Kulosaari Secondary School.
Media representatives will have the opportunity to film the dance and interview the students after the dress rehearsal at the ice hall from 13.15 to 13.45. The students will perform a short clip each dance at the dress rehearsal.
The event will be opened at 14.00 by Shawn Huff, Deputy Mayor for Education at the City of Helsinki. The Helsinki Police Symphonic Band will play the music.
Rehearsing and performing the dances is an important part of cultural and etiquette education at general upper secondary schools. The Helsinki Ice Hall hosted the formal dance for second-year students for the first time in 1992.
