The Traditional Finnish Christmas

Rice porridge and mulled wine

The Finnish Christmas morning starts with rice porridge seasoned with cinnamon, and who ever finds an almond hidden in their portion of rice porridge gets to make a Christmas wish.

The Finnish families traditionally enjoy a snowy day outside doing winter sports or building snowmen before enjoying Finnish Christmas drink Glögg, a spiced hot mulled wine with Christmas cakes, ginger breads and pastries.

The cemeteries are exceptionally beautiful during the snowy holiday season, for it is customary to bring candles for your loved ones who have passed away, as a way of honoring the eternal bond between family members. So, before the Christmassy evening festivities, in Finland it is time to light candles for those who we long for.

Christmas sauna and childhood memories

Christmas sauna amidst snowy landscapes, is a very important tradition for Finns and many families have different traditions when it comes to their Christmas Sauna. A must have is a Sauna Vasta or Vihta, dried of birch branches in the summer, a type of whip which is great for stimulating circulation when gently beating oneself during Sauna. Actually, an act of love in Finland is to offer to whip your sauna mate with a Vasta or Vihta.

After a cleansing Christmas Sauna, it is time for board games and traditional Christmas stories or movies for the whole family. These are the moments when even adults feel like kids again, for the tradition of family fun and games is past on through generations, nothing warms ones heart then the childhood memories.

Offerings of the forests and little wishes

The scent of a traditional Finnish Christmas dinner dances from the kitchen as the preparations of a festive feast are coming to an end. The Finnish Christmas table is set filled with earthy flavours and rustic baking. consisting of root vegetables, local proteins and offerings of the forests.

The magic of a Finnish Christmas culminates when Santa Claus visits the Finnish homes and brings joy and fills little wishes made through the year. This moment entwines the people to a joined Christmas carol, we wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

The magic of Christmas is real in Rovaniemi every day of the year!