Fresher Adventure and Opening Carnival 2020 cancelled – new virtual event in the works

The traditional student events of the autumn have to be cancelled due to the coronavirus. We are now planning a new virtual event to fill up the empty autumn schedule that this has caused and to introduce freshers to the activities of the Student Union and its organisations.

The coronavirus continues to wreak havoc on events in Finland and the entire world, with HYY’s activities affected too. We have come to the conclusion that we cannot responsibly organise mass events next autumn due to the risks posed by the coronavirus. For this reason, the traditional student events of the autumn, such as the Opening Carnival and the Fresher Adventure, will not be organised this year.

However, we will not be twiddling our thumbs in the events sector – we are now planning an entirely new event for the autumn. This event, which will be organised completely remotely, is intended to fill up the empty schedule caused by the cancellation of the Fresher Adventure and the Opening Carnival.

‘We are fully aware that a virtual event is not a perfect replacement for the cancelled events of the autumn. However, we are completely appalled by the idea that HYY would not organise any kind of events for freshers in the autumn. Looking after people’s safety is our top priority, which makes hosting the event on digital platforms the only alternative. We already organised May Day entirely remotely and learned a lot from the experience. We have a great desire to organise something awesome for the autumn and a strong belief that we can do so!’ HYY’s Event Producer Susanne Salo states.

Events organised by HYY at the beginning of the academic year have been an important part of beginning one’s studies and the related networking and formation of a sense of communality, especially for freshers. Getting acquainted with the activities of organisations and the entire Student Union right at the start of studies is also important, as we are a part of the everyday life of all students from the beginning of their studies right to the end. We intend to provide an answer to these very issues with the new event – although having fun will certainly not be forgotten, either.

We will provide more information about the time and details of the new event as soon as possible.

Further information:
Susanne Salo, event producer
susanne.salo@hyy.fi