Commerce and Carnival

The fish fair as a meeting-place

Authors

• Nils Storå

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37447/bk.130560

Keywords:

fish fair, herring, meeting-place, tradition

Abstract

In 1997, a total of 47 fish fairs were organised in Finland. In Åbo not only was the usual autumn fish fair held, but a fair was also arranged in the spring, too early (because of the ice) for people from the archipelago to be able come into town by means of their own boats. The times and places of the fish fairs over the year are given in the Fish Fair Calendar which is published by Fiskeritidskrift för Finland (Finnish Fishing Journal). Seven of the 47 fairs are called herring fairs, and among these is the autumn fair in Åbo, which is the one I will particularly focus on in this article.