Nationwide Sauna Day and Declaration of Sauna Peace

Since 1986, Finland has been celebrating a national sauna day on the second Saturday in June. The day is celebrated with the announcement of Declaration of Sauna Peace. One of the aims of the International Sauna Association (ISA) is to make Sauna Day international.

In Estonia, 2023 has been declared the Year of the Sauna.  Therefore, the Estonian Rural Tourism Organization and the Finnish Institute invite all Estonians to celebrate Sauna Day on 10 June and to participating in announcement of the Declaration of Sauna Peace.

"We invite everyone to take a sauna on the second Saturday in June, whether it is your own sauna, a sauna service provider or a public sauna. It's easy to get involved, all you need is the will, the desire and the appreciation for sauna culture," said Raili Mengel, CEO of the Estonian Rural Tourism Organization, which is leading the Estonian Year of Sauna.

Sauna Day is sacred and inviolable and means that ...

  • Everyone may have the right to bathe in his/her favorite sauna;
  • All sauna bathers may come into the sauna friendly-minded;
  • Disagreements, quarrels and mobile phones shall be left outside ear-shot;
  • Any impure thought, envy or vengefulness may not enter the sauna;
    tolerance and open mind are welcome! 

Inviolable sauna peace is a centuries-old common law of Baltic Finns and part of the domestic peace established by the Swedish kings. Since 1995, the International Smoke Sauna Club has declared sauna peace on the second Saturday of June for Finland and for whole humankind. This text is a modernizised version of the old sauna peace regulations.