One thing I was unprepared for was the extent of the May Day celebrations in Helsinki as I arrived for Eurovision.

The streets and parks and squares and beeches are full of people. They wear white caps (something to do with their graduation) and boiler suits in a an array of colours and designs. They are sitting on the grass with their barbecues and gazebos and copious alcohol. In the freezing cold, and the atmosphere is wonderful.

People walk the streets drinking wine and champagne. Well, more staggering around. It occurred to me that were this to happen in the UK, the atmosphere would inevitably turn ugly at some point with this amount of drinking. But there is never even the remotest hint of that in Finland. Something else to make me not proud to be British.