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At sunrise, women and children go to the lakeshore and chant "Heinäsirkka, heinäsirkka, meine täättä hiiteen" as St. Urho did thousands of years ago. The men of the local villages dress in nile green costumes and gather at the hillsides that overlook the local lakes. They begin walking down the hillside, chanting, and kicking the grasshoppers out as they go. Somewhere during the process of kicking out the grasshoppers and chanting, they are to change their costumes from green to purple.
This festival of Finnish-Americans was created in the upper mid west to compete with a slightly more popular ethnic holiday a day later- St. Patrick's Day. Activities for the St. Urho Day festival include drinking purple beer, planting donut seeds (apparently Cheerios are the main seed source), a parade, and most importantly the crowning of a Grasshopper King.
This festival of Finnish-Americans was created in the upper mid west to compete with a slightly more popular ethnic holiday a day later- St. Patrick's Day. Activities for the St. Urho Day festival include drinking purple beer, planting donut seeds (apparently Cheerios are the main seed source), a parade, and most importantly the crowning of a Grasshopper King.