Activities

Something about the activities of The Finnish Tolkien Society.

Meetings

We organize six official meetings each year:

The Annual Feast on the third of January is a celebration of the founding of the Finnish Tolkien Society and naturally also the birthday of Tolkien himself. Out of all of our meetings it is by far the most formal one – but not at the expence of merriness. The official program includes dining, speeches and a toast to J. R. R. Tolkien as well as some music usually performed by our members.
The Spring Meeting is a weekend long meeting, usually held at some camping centre.
Suomenlinna picnic is traditionally held in Suomenlinna, an old island fort near Helsinki. At this event, the barbeque is at the center of everything. There are light activities as well, in which everyone present may participate.
The Summer Meeting, or The Miitti, is the biggest and most expected meeting of the year. It usually begins on Thursday and continues till Sunday. The Miitti has a lot more organised program than any of the other meetings but there's still a lot of time to relax with friends. Also, the new committee of the Society is elected at The Miitti.
The Autumn Meeting is a weekend long meeting, usually held at some camping centre.
The Pre-Christmas Party is a weekend long meeting, usually held at some camping centre. The official matters of the past term are handled, the accounts are formally approved and the committee discharged from liability at this meeting. The rest of the program, however, is less formal. There's gingerbread and mulled wine available and sometimes the participants can exchange christmas presents.

Addittionally, regular monthly meetings are held in Helsinki and Tampere:

The Helsinki monthly meetings are held on the last Sunday of every month in Oluthuone Kaisla (Vilhonkatu 4) at 5:00 pm.
The Tampere monthly meetings are held on the third Friday of every month in Café La Famille (Aleksis Kiven katu 10) at 5:00 pm.

Smials

Most of the activities of the Finnish Tolkien Society, however, take place in smials, or local "hobby-clubs". (The word 'smial' means the holes the Hobbits live in.) Members of the smials play various games, such as roleplaying games, fantasy-related board and card games and so on as well as discuss the works of Tolkien and his incredibly rich world and stories. Some go on outings to woods, cook hobbit-style (i.e. a lot and often), watch videos, or participate in various events, such as RopeCon, the largest roleplayers' convention in Finland, or meetings of the Finnish Tolkien Society. In short, Smials do what ever they can think of to entertain themselves.

Most Smials participate in the Smial-competition organized by the Society. The Smials report on their activities and are awarded points for doing "Tolkien-related" activities. The most active Smial of the year is rewarded.

To get information about the smials please contact our Smial Official. To start your own smial you need at least to people, at least one of whom must be a member of the Finnish Tolkien Society.

The contact information of the Smial Official is

Lotta Raatikainen
smialvastaava (at) suomentolkienseura.fi

Active smials in 2012

Brandagamba (Helsinki)
Juhlapuu (Internet)
Marach (Luumäki)
Morel (Tampere)

Other activities

Other activities of the Finnish Tolkien Society include participating in various literature and fantasy related events, keeping in touch with other Tolkien societies around the world, and cooperation with various parties concerning various projects related to the works of J. R. R. Tolkien.