Heikinpäivä 2018 to Feature Reindeer on Quincy Green

HANCOCK — The reindeer are coming! The reindeer are coming!

After several years of waiting, Heikinpäivä festival-goers will be pleased to know that this year’s festival will include three reindeer as part of the outdoor activities on Quincy Green.

Thanks to an initiative by Finlandia University President Philip Johnson and the University’s Finnish Council in America, the folks at Noël Productions of Osseo, Wisconsin are bringing three young reindeer to the festival on Saturday, January 27. Two of the three deer will be part of the Heikinpäivä parade, and all three will be available for public viewing on Quincy Green from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Jeff Fritz, proprietor of Noël Productions, is eager to be a part of this year’s festival, carrying on a tradition begun several years ago by his friend and fellow reindeer enthusiast, the late Tom Scheib. Bureaucracy has changed quite a bit since Scheib’s deer visited Heikinpäivä; Fritz learned only earlier this week that the Michigan Department of Agriculture would allow him to transport his deer across state lines.

“We’ve heard about this festival before, and we’re excited that it finally worked out that we can be a part of it,” Fritz said. “We can’t wait to get there, meet everybody and introduce them to our reindeer.”

For more information about Heikinpäivä activities, call (906) 487-7549.