Ancient Bonfires organizer: Three fires registered in America this year
Mairold Vaik, organizer of the Night of Ancient Bonfires, told Vikerraadio that, interestingly, it has rained on the event only twice in the past 18 years.
"The Night of Ancient Bonfires 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 together and send good thoughts to each other across the sea," Mairold Vaik explained. He added that when he learned about the tradition a few years later, he was particularly drawn to the sense of unity it created. "That feeling is what keeps me taking part in the tradition."
Vaik, who compiles information about different bonfires on a shared map on the Night of Ancient Bonfires website, said he began collecting reports of bonfires from people he knew in 2009. "At first it was a simple Google Maps map, but for years now there has been a separate website."
"When I look at the list right now, there aren't that many bonfires listed. There are around 50 public bonfires and another 45 to 50 private ones, so a little over 100 in total. But what I can say is that the map isn't as popular anymore as the event itself," he stressed, adding that there are probably 10 times as many bonfires as are shown on the map.
"We've even received three bonfire reports from the United States. Estonians there have also gotten together and will be enjoying the evening. We've also received some reports from around the Baltic Sea — from Latvia, Sweden and Finland — and there's even one from the eastern shore of the Gulf of Finland."
According to Vaik, no one dictates how the Night of Ancient Bonfires should be celebrated. "No one tells you the right way to celebrate Midsummer Day either. But from my own experience, I can say that the best bonfire site is your own, with a small group of your own people."
"Bonfire events haven't been canceled because of rain, but it really is remarkable that, by my estimate, on the evening when the bonfires are lit, rain has fallen in parts of Estonia only twice in the past 18 years," he said, adding that there could be a brief shower on the islands of western Estonia during this year's Night of Ancient Bonfires. "Fortunately, no rain is forecast for mainland Estonia."
The fires are lit on the last Saturday of August, which this year is August 29, at sunset.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski, Kaspar Viilup
