It’s Christmas every day in the hometown of Santa Claus
Rovaniemi, the official hometown of Santa Claus, is preparing for the best time of the year, Christmas season and white winter in good spirits.
Rovaniemi is the hometown of Santa Claus, a place where the globally renowned kind old man in a white beard chooses to live throughout the year. The atmosphere here intensifies towards the end of the year: there are appealing Christmas destinations, public events, concerts, Christmas bazaars and memorable moments in the heart of nature.
Grand Christmas Opening initiates Rovaniemi’s most important season
Rovaniemi’s Christmastime events begin with the traditional Grand Christmas Opening on 24 November 2012 at 16.00. The focus for the Grand Christmas Opening is the Santa Claus Village that gets around half a million visitors each year coming to meet Santa Claus in person. Performing this year at the Grand Christmas Opening, in addition to Santa Claus, is the Elf School Class.
The Grand Christmas Opening weekend also sees the opening of Santa’s lifetime experience cavern, SantaPark, which is open through to 13 January 2013 every day. In the winter season, the SantaPark admission tickets are valid for two consecutive days.
Santa Claus Village is open and Santa
Claus receives visitors every day of the year. Snow and ice attractions in the Santa Claus Village will open from December until March.
Christmas Wish – Christmas show for the whole family
Dance Theatre Rimpparemmi's performance Christmas Wish is shown in Santa Claus Hotel on December – January. Music, movement and a strong visual element convey the most important Christmas message – love for the entire family, no matter what the language.
Christmas Wish – Christmas show is new event in Rovaniemi!
Christmas Fantasy takes your breath away in the heart of nature
At the end of December the unique combination of pure white nature and the story of Christmas can be experienced just around half an hour’s drive from the Rovaniemi town centre. The great festive hall set in the forest is the perfect setting for the Christmas Fantasy, located close to an authentic Lappish village at Oitolanranta in Sonka. Taking central stage in the performance are the forest elves, and the ticket includes transportation from the town centre.
Santa is on his way…
On 23 December at 19.00 Santa Claus starts his long journey to deliver gifts to children around the world on the day before Christmas Eve. We can all wish him a safe journey and send our Christmas greetings all over the world. You can join the event in Santa Claus Village, Artic Circle.
Santa Claus chose his hometown quite a while ago
Santa Claus’s top secret toy workshop is located in Korvatunturi (Ear Mountain) along a route which is not very accessible. In order to be able to meet people, in the 1950s Santa started to receive his guests in the capital town of Lapland, Rovaniemi.
Since then, meeting Santa Claus has become the highlight of a trip to Lapland for high-powered politicians, international stars, celebrity sportspeople, famous artists, regular conference delegates or for people here for the holiday experience.
Due to the ever-increasing popularity of Santa Claus, his very own office has been built for him at the Santa Claus Village on the Arctic Circle, where he can be met on every day of the year. Later on, an entire Santa Claus Village grew on the Arctic Circle with its elves and boutiques, located just a five-minute drive from Rovaniemi’s international airport.
Santa Claus and the Arctic Circle has, for instance, its own Post Office that receives over 700,000 letters from children each year writing to Santa, Santa’s Home Cavern, SantaPark, and the Command Centre at Joulukka in the depths of the forest.