On April 30 each year, nearly two dozen Estonian academic organizations that otherwise may not ever catch anyone's attention celebrate Walpurgis Night (volbriöö) in Estonia's second city in an exceptional way.

Elsewhere in Estonia, Walpurgis Day and the preceding Walpurgis Eve, or Walpurgis Night, are still mainly associated with bonfire and witches, keeping with European traditions connected to the Christian feast day of Saint Walpurga – which historically was celebrated on May 1.

Even the Estonian word volber, like the Finnish vappu and Swedish valborg, are derived from Walpurga's name.

In Tartu, however, similarly to vappu in Finland, it is university students, alumni and their organizations that dominate celebrations, holding a major procession through town before splitting off to host their own Walpurgis Night parties (volbripeod). For these organizations and their members, volber marks the pinnacle of the academic year.

Ruling Baltic-Germans' exclusive celebrations

Like in Tallinn and other cities across Europe, the arrival of May had been celebrated in Tartu for centuries already, with festivities including the choosing of a count and countess of May. Tartu has also been a university town since the University of Tartu was established under Swedish rule as Academia Gustaviana in 1632.

The 19th century saw the rise of Baltic-German fraternities (korporatsioonid), which exercised significant power over the student body and student life in town, and it was these Baltic-German fraternities that started gathering near the ruins of Tartu Cathedral to celebrate Walpurgis Night and the arrival of spring with bonfires and revelry.

At the time, the first ethnic Estonian student organizations, established as Estonia's national awakening was underway, remained unrecognized by their Baltic-German predecessors and were left out of these Walpurgis Night celebrations.

The Republic of Estonia gained independence in February 1918, and amid the War of Independence to follow, the Estonian-language University of Tartu was established in December 1919.

During this period, many more Estonian student societies (üliõpilasseltsid), fraternities (meeskorporatsioonid) and sororities (naiskorporatsioonid) were founded, and it was these organizations that decided to establish their own Walpurgis Night traditions, separate from the Baltic-German organizations.

Colors on display

Many of the most prominent volber traditions still carried on in Tartu today date back to the 1930s, including a festive Walpurgis procession (volbrirongkäik) along Vanemuise tänav, to Town Hall Square and then on to the university.

Academic organizations (akadeemilised organisatsioonid, or ak! orgid), consisting of a specific set of student societies, fraternities and sororities, line up according to their academic age (akadeemiline vanus), i.e. the order of their establishment, beginning with the fraternity Estonian Students' Society (EÜS), founded in 1870 – and whose blue, black and white flag was the one adopted as the Estonian flag in 1922.

Currently bringing up the rear of the official procession as the youngest academic organization in Estonia is the sorority korp! Sororitas Estoniae, which was founded in 2011.

Not all Estonian academic organizations have flags or other prominent insignia, but those with flags are led by a color guard (lipuvalve), often in sashes (särbid), carrying their flag. Some of these organizations wear white and navy university caps, or variations thereof, however, members of organizations with their own signature colors (värvid) wear caps (teklid) and ribbons (värvilindid) in their respective color combinations – customs picked up from the Baltic-German fraternities that preceded them.

Members and alumni with young children will often bring them along to watch or join the procession for at least part of the route, and many organizations sing together, especially popular or traditional student songs, along the way.

In the most public part of these volber celebrations, the procession makes its first stop in Town Hall Square (Raekoja plats). In a tradition of their own dating back to 1999, members of the sorority korp! Filiae Patriae climb into the fountain and up to the Kissing Students statue (Suudlevad tudengid) and place a wreath on the woman student's head.

On the front steps of Town Hall, the mayor of Tartu addresses the assembled crowd, symbolically handing power over the city for the night to its students and organizations before ceremonially toasting and drinking a beer together with a fraternity representative. Continuing a pre-occupation tradition, the crowd then sings the "Vivat et respublica..." verse "Gaudeamus igitur," an old student song in Latin still in use in many countries today as an academic anthem.

From here, the procession continues on to the main building of the University of Tartu nearby, where the rector of the university similarly addresses the crowd, ceremonially toasts and drinks a beer together with a fraternity representative, and the crowd sings the "Vivat academia..." verse from "Gaudeamus igitur."

This marks the traditional end of the procession, however many participating student organizations will continue together up a steep cobbled street to Toome Hill.

While some organizations take this opportunity to split off for group photos in various spots around the hilltop, others hang back to watch as members of EÜS climb up the monument to Karl Ernst von Baer – one of Tartu's most famous alumni – tie a tie around its neck and then literally wash the statue's head with champagne.

Often equated in news coverage with Tartu's Walpurgis Night celebrations in general, the "washing of von Baer's head," like the Kissing Students' wreath, is actually the custom of EÜS exclusively, likewise dating back to the 90s.

Parties 'til dawn

Later that night, after smaller traditional events, dinners and other festivities, various fraternities, sororities and student societies host Walpurgis Night parties. Dating back to Estonia's first period of independence, the Estonian Women Students' Society (ENÜS), founded underground in 1911, is credited with starting the tradition of organizations visiting one another after midnight.

Amid the Singing Revolution period, 1989 marked a major turning point as more and more academic organizations were reestablished in Estonia in the final years of Soviet occupation and started reviving old traditions, including these get-togethers between organizations.

Today, those visits have evolved into major parties which traditionally – but not always – begin at midnight. These parties are often hosted at the organizations' own houses (konvendid), many of which are clustered uphill from the city center, toward Tartu Railway Station, making it easy for Walpurgis Night revelers (volberdajad) to party-hop throughout the night.

Some larger organizations sometimes welcome the general public at their parties, especially if they have invited a popular band to perform. Others, especially smaller organizations or those with smaller houses, open their doors only to members of other academic organizations and their dates. Members will often be posted at the door (uksevalve) to help regulate who gets let in and enforce dress codes.

Especially welcome at all of these parties are visiting members of the Estonian organizations' diaspora chapters (väliskoondused, -koondised), many of which were established by refugee members during the Soviet occupation and have remained active since, as well as friends and guests from equivalent academic organizations in Finland, Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Germany.

In an echo of Ancient Rome's Floralia, many of these Walpurgis Night parties last all night long, featuring bands, plays put on by organization pledges, bonfires and plenty of food and drink. Some organizations traditionally offer signature breakfasts for the heartiest of revelers, from waffles and ice cream to soup.

Each year, the fraternity korp! Rotalia also hosts the biggest annual volber afterparty in the form of a garden party (aiapidu), with its back lawn filled with both those who have gone home to sleep in the meantime but want to enjoy a more relaxed atmosphere the next day as well as those still up from the night before.

May 1 is a public holiday in Estonia, so either way, students and at least some employed members have the day after off and the chance to get some rest.

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