Finnish Christmas Special
thisisFINLAND’s(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window) Christmas Special is online! Enjoy articles about Finnish holiday traditions, open windows on our Christmas calendar and read all about Santa Claus, who lives in Finnish Lapland as everyone knows. We even used our connections to get an exclusive interview with one of Santa’s elves!
The original Finnish Christmas ornament
The himmeli, a traditional Finnish holiday decoration made out of straw, remains popular today. We take a closer look at the ornament’s many forms and talk to himmeli maker Eija Koski. More (Opens New Window)
Finnish Christmas Songs
Favourite Finnish Christmas carols picked by thisisFINLAND.fi. More(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)
Christmas cookbook
Christmas is the most traditional of Finnish festivals. It is a time for family, close relatives, friends without family, but above all for the children. The good old traditional dishes appear on the Christmas dining table year after year. More(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)
Ambassador of Christmans
Santa Claus is the great hero of the Finnish holiday season. As just about everyone knows, he lives in northern Finland and helps spread the joy of Christmas all over the world. More(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)
Sending Santa letters in Finnish Lapland
Do you ever wonder where all those letters that children write to Santa Claus wind up? In Finnish Lapland, of course, at Santa’s Main Post Office – and right next door, you can meet Santa himself. More(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)
Meet one of Santa’s elves
Elves tend to shy away from grown-ups, but our reporter used his contacts in Finnish Lapland to catch up with Crackers, one of Santa’s elves, for a rare, exclusive interview. More(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)
Exclusive interview: Mrs Claus
Santa and his wife, Mrs Claus, have a hectic schedule at this time of year, but we pulled a few strings and managed to get an interview with Mrs Claus about life at Korvatunturi, their home in Finnish Lapland. More (Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)
Christmas with the Sibelius family
Jean Sibelius, Finland’s most famous composer, also wrote some of Finland’s most beloved Christmas carols, although he dreaded the darkest time of the year. More(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)
Christmas Eve in a candlelit cemetery
Although going to a graveyard might seem an unlikely activity for the festive season, the sight of hundreds of graveside candles glowing in the snow in a serene wooded cemetery can be surprisingly uplifting. More(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)
Finnish Christmas: Good, bad and ugly
Christmas signifies the most important holiday of the year for the Finns. However, like many good things, this holiday is not without its foibles and nuisances. More(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)
Can’t wait for Finnish Christmas!
Each calendar window on this map of Finland shows an
activity associated with the Finnish Christmas season, from singing Christmas carols to baking gingerbread, not to mention sledding down snow-covered hills and writing letters to Santa Claus. More(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)
The chosen one
Mid-December is dark and cold in Finland, there are no two ways about it. As the country takes its annual plunge into winter, many Finns find solace in a saint. More (Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)
How to survive winter in Finland and enjoy it
The arrival of the cold, dark, snowy winter doesn't mean life stops. On the contrary, discover how Finns not only survive it, but enjoy it! More (Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)