Christmas in Finland

Finland is located in Northern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia, and Gulf of Finland, between Sweden and Russia. The traditional Christmas greeting in Finland is Hyv Joulua!

Families gather together on Christmas Eve which is the most important day of the year in Finland. Most children who have grown up and moved away from home plan to return to their parents home for the holiday. The shops across the nation close at noon so everyone has to have their shopping done by that time.

At the stroke of noon the "Peace of Christmas" is proclaimed in Turku, the former capital of Finland, Some of the Christmas readings heard on the broadcast date from the Middle Ages. This marks the "official" beginning of the Christmas celebrations and most families enjoy the first part of their Christmas meal at this point.

Around 5 p.m., families go to the churchyard, for a special service where candles are placed on the graves of departed loved ones. It's a breathtaking sight to see thousands of candles flickering in the Finnish twilight.

On Christmas Eve, children await the arrival of Father Christmas. He differs from his counterparts in other nations in that he actually enters the house for a visit at this time instead of during the night when the children are asleep. Father Christmas always asks the same question upon his arrival: "Are there any good children here?" The answer is always an enthusiastic "Yes".

The kindly gentleman has a basket filled with gifts and as his helpers distribute them, he tells about his journey from his home in Lapland and how he must hurry along to complete his rounds. After the children sing a final Christmas song, he moves on his way to visit other homes in the area.

Remembering the birds is a custom in rural areas of Scandinavia at Christmastime and is in keeping with the general tendency to try to share the festivities with all the animals so that the coming year will be a prosperous one. A sheaf of wheat or some other grain, or even just seeds and bread, is placed on a pole and set up outside where the birds are known to congregate.

The sight and sound of the outdoor festivity at the birds "Christmas tree" can add greatly to the zest and warmth of the indoor celebrations.

The picture on the right depicts the sheaf of grain along with Christmas greens and red ribbons tied to a streetlamp.

(quoted fromhttp://christmas-world.freeservers.com/finland.html)