HANCOCK, Mich. (WLUC) – The Finnish Ambassador to the U.S. is visiting Hancock this week, the city designated as the 2026 Finno-Ugric Capital of Culture.
During Leena-Kaisa Mikkola’s time here, she’s participating in panel discussions and taking part in the summer solstice festivities.
She says midsummer celebrations are very important in Finnish Culture.
“So, if you go to the bigger cities in Finland, they’re completely, completely empty,” Mikkola said. “Everybody goes to the countryside and spends time in their cabins by lakes.”
She says she gets the sense that people celebrate in a similar fashion here. The people Mikkola has met also share a similar disposition to Finns.
“People are very friendly and very nice and somehow… you know, in Finland we don’t really have hierarchies, and we are friendly and direct at the same time,” Mikkola said.
She says that Hancock is doing a good job preserving its cultural heritage by holding events like this one.
“There are so many similarities between Finland and the state of Michigan, and not only because of the important Finnish American community but because of the landscape and values that we share, that I’d like to be able to boost even more cooperation between Finland and Michigan and Upper Peninsula,” Mikkola said.
She hopes this will not be her last visit to Hancock.
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