Went to the Carnival of Lights at Linnanmaki last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
So even though entrance was free; plus you can ice skate for free, and ride the Panoraama for free; it wasn’t that full on Friday. Still it was good for our purposes because we wanted to take photos of the rides and the surroundings that day. Less people mean more space for shooting photos. We went there early in the evening to be able to catch some light in the skies before it faded into darkness.
On Sunday, the last night of the event, the place was jam-packed. We haven’t seen Linnanmaki that full before, ever. That’s why we were so glad that we chose Saturday to buy an all-pass ticket for the rides because it allowed us to basically go on lots of rides with hardly any queues at all. More rides in less time.
Every night, there was supposed to be a fire show (another freebie) at 9 o’clock but we somehow missed it completely on the Friday and Saturday that we were there, but not today; I made sure of that– I went to the venue half an hour early and got me a place at the very front.
Annika wasn’t as lucky. She came a bit late so there was no way she could penetrate the crowd into where I was without making enemies. So she was contented to wait for me at the back until it was over.
No sooner, she reminded me that the fireworks display was at 10 o’clock. So with 20 minutes left before it was to begin, we waded among the throngs of people to the amusement park’s main square. By then, everybody was heading to the same place too.
I steered Annika and myself towards Jarrumies Cafe & Restaurant because its outdoor terrace had a good vantage point, being located on the second floor, and is conveniently facing towards the direction of the main square to boot. I was so relieved to see that there were still empty places on the outdoor terrace. As we quickly settled down and prepared our equipments, the place suddenly began to fill up. Within minutes, there wasn’t an empty place anymore; not on the outdoor terrace, nor on the main square. We got there just in the nick of time.
When it was over, both Annika and I agreed that it was one of the better fireworks display we’ve seen in Helsinki ever.
and Nikon D40
. For the timelapse, I used Panasonic Lumix GF1
.