Finland is the home country of Santa Claus and Rovaniemi, located in the Arctic Circle in Finnish Lapland, claims the title of Santa’s hometown: here boys and girls of all ages can visit Father Christmas at the ‘Santa Claus Village‘. In the old days, the Finnish Santa Claus was originally a rather frightening goat-like creature wearing a mask and a pair of horns, the ‘Joulupukki‘, or ‘Christmas Goat’. Over time, the Joulupukki turned into the gift-giving, reindeer sleigh-riding figure that makes short home visits during family Christmas Eve dinners by knocking on the front door, like a gentleman. Christmastime in Finland brings some delicious festive treats: like the Swedish ‘julbord‘, the Finnish ‘joulupöytä’ is a rich assortment of cold and warm dishes, to be matched by some “glögi“, alcoholic or non-alcoholic mulled wine.
Round off your meal with the cinnamon Christmas rice pudding, which often has an almond hidden inside: as in the Danish ‘Risalamande‘, whoever discovers it in their bowl gets a small gift. Finally, it would not be a proper Finnish Christmas without Finnish sauna, with children leaving a little offering for the ‘Saunatonttu’, the friendly ‘sauna elf’. Despite sharing many of the same foods and traditions as neighbouring Sweden, the Finnish Christmas (‘Joulu’) is a little more unconventional than the Swedish Christmas: while in the Arctic, it is also possible to enjoy activities like dog sledding, reindeer sleigh riding, snowshoeing and northern lights hunting.
