A country as cold and far away as Finland needs to have a few tricks up its sleeves to attract tourists, and Finland is the best magician of them all. We've already become addicted to following their annual wife carrying contests and last year we added the sauna-sitting titles to our list of reasons to return to Finland.
But it turns out there are literally dozens more weird reasons to fly up to Santa-land. The Mobile Phone Throwing contest (this year on August 22) appeals to us, where we can watch hundreds of competitors heft their (probably Nokia) cell phones through the air. The Swamp Football championships take place for the twelfth time on July 17-18 and these literally involve playing soccer in very, very muddy ground. And we've long been keen on catching the Air Guitar Championships in Oulu, northern Finland – strumming away this year on August 19-21.
And if, like us, you still hold the strongest affection for wife-carrying – remember, you're allowed to carry somebody else's wife – the dates to remember are July 3 and 4, 2009. Alternatively, if you're prepared to following the Sauna contest rules of "sitting in the sauna with buttocks and thighs on the seat", then August 7-8 are the dates to note.
Related Stories:
· Visit Finland [Official Site]
· Finnish Tourist Board Will Use Wife-Carrying to Lure You In [Jaunted]
· Winners Are Not Only in Beijing: Congrats to Sauna Sitters [Jaunted]
[Photo: husin.sani] ]]>