Ancient Bonfires Night draws bonfire reports from America

Mairold Vaik, an organiser of Estonia’s Ancient Bonfires Night, said three bonfire reports had arrived from the United States this year, ERR reported. Estonians abroad have also reported bonfires from Latvia, Sweden and Finland, including one from the eastern shore of the Gulf of Finland.

Vaik said the tradition began in the early 1990s, when two friends, one on the Tahkuna Peninsula on Hiiumaa and the other near Turku in Finland, agreed to light bonfires and send good thoughts across the sea. He said he was drawn to the sense of unity when he learned about the tradition several years later.

Since 2009, Vaik has collected bonfire reports and displayed them on a shared map on the Ancient Bonfires Night website. The map currently lists about 50 public bonfires and 45 to 50 private ones, or slightly more than 100 in total. Vaik said the actual number of bonfires was probably about 10 times higher.

He said there were no fixed rules for celebrating the night, comparing it to Midsummer, when people are also not told how to celebrate. In his view, the most beautiful bonfire location is a small one organised by people themselves.

Vaik said rain had not cancelled bonfire events, but described it as remarkable that rain had covered part of Estonia on only two of the past 18 Ancient Bonfires Nights. This year, the islands of western Estonia could see a light shower, while the mainland is expected to remain dry.