Swedish Day is celebrated on 6 November, and symbolises the right for Swedish-speaking Finns to use their mother tongue freely in Finland. It is also an occasion for celebrating Finland as a bilingual nation. On Swedish Day, a grand party is arranged along with numerous local parties. The grand Swedish Day party has been arranged by Folktinget since the 1940’s, and during the festivities, the Swedish Assembly medal is awarded to people who have personally worked actively for Swedish culture and the Swedish language in Finland. The festivities generally receive much attention from the media, and the grand party is broadcast by Finnish radio.

Swedish Day was first celebrated in 1908 on the initiative of the Swedish People’s Party, and, typically for the National Romanticism of that time, the day of King Gustav II Adolph’s death was chosen. Despite the fact that the tradition of Swedish Day was initiated by a political party, the festivities have become less political, and are today perceived as a celebration of the right to use Swedish as a mother tongue.

Swedish Day is of great importance to the small minority of Swedish-speaking Finns, in that it creates a sense of kinship that cannot be sustained by laws or documents.