New Year in Finland: celebration features, traditions and customs

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

New Year in Finland is a special celebration. According to tradition, he comes into his own in this country on the night of December 31 to January 1. Locals usually begin to prepare for the holiday a few weeks before its onset and celebrate the arrival of the New Year on a grand scale. Finns associate a large number of different customs and traditions with New Year's celebrations. How is New Year celebrated in Finland? The answer to this question can be found in this article.

Preparing for the celebration

Christmas in Finland is celebrated before the New Year, on the night of December 24-25. As in a large number of European countries, local residents begin preparing for the New Year holidays in mid-November. In large settlements of the country, Christmas streets and even entire neighborhoods traditionally open. Buildings, squares, avenues and even trees and lampposts are decorated with colorful garlands.

Finns place Christmas wreaths decorated with red ribbons and various figurines in front of the entrance to their homes. They put original candlesticks with seven burning electric candles on the windows. Every house has a localbeautiful Christmas trees are set up, creating a magical festive atmosphere. They decorate the facades of their houses with garlands with a large number of light bulbs, symbolizing the "light of well-being". New Year and Christmas in Finland are considered by many to be family celebrations.

Features of the celebration

If on Christmas the locals invite only the closest people to their homes, then on New Year's Eve they meet in restaurants and social gatherings with their friends, colleagues and acquaintances. A large number of events traditionally take place in the daytime, rarely anyone celebrates the holiday all night. As the ancient Finnish belief says: whoever gets up early in the morning on January 1st will be full of vigor and strength all year. Also, locals try not to scold their offspring on the first day of the new year, they believe that this contributes to their obedience in the next 12 months.

Representatives of the younger generation prefer to celebrate the holiday in private homes. Elderly people, especially lonely ones, rarely sit at home, they go to visit. The main events on the night of the meeting of the coming year are held in this country on the Senate Square of the capital. At midnight, locals open champagne and watch the broadcast from Helsinki. Finns are congratulated on the holiday by the mayor of this city.

Another feature of the magical holiday is the New Year's fireworks, which are allowed to run in Finland from 6 pm to 6 am. But there are certain restrictions for its launch. All fireworks must matchsafety regulations and have special markings. It is allowed to launch them only to persons who have reached the age of eighteen, who have permission from the rescuers in their hands. Firecrackers are also prohibited in squares and city parks.

Finnish Santa Claus

In ancient times, one custom was widespread in the village in Finland. Local men went into every house and presented everyone with gifts. They certainly wore goat coats and therefore were called Jouluppuki (Christmas goats). After some time, this strange name began to be called the Lapland Santa Claus. According to one of the legends, he was offended by people for this and rarely left his residence. Gifts to the recipients are mainly delivered by the helpers of Santa Claus Joulupukki. However, on the eve of the New Year, he visits all the cities of Finland with a Christmas greeting.

This Finnish wizard lives in the vicinity of the city of Rovaniemi, which is located a thousand kilometers from the capital of Finland. His fabulous and cozy residence is decorated with bright light bulbs. Finnish Santa Claus owns a large reindeer farm and children's favorite reindeer, Rudolf. When Santa Claus leaves his house to give people a holiday, Rudolph and the other reindeer quickly deliver him to his destination.

Santa Claus Helpers

Santa Claus in Finland has smart and wise eyes, testifying to his kind and cheerful character, and a large beard that hides a smile. It is forbidden for children to tell him lies, according to legend,Joulupukki has a large library that includes books about all the children in the world. From them, he learns about all the secret desires of the kids.

Santa Claus' helpers in Finland are gnomes who are constantly working to prepare a fabulous present for each kid. They keep records, sort out a huge number of letters that come to the country's main post office, and pack gifts. The main mail gnome is above all the leader. He makes sure that all letters reach the addressee. The pre-holiday bustle in Joulupukki's house ends at midnight on Christmas Day. When the earth is shrouded in deep night and the stars shine brightly in the sky, bells begin to ring in the area, announcing the arrival of the holiday.

Holiday traditions

The Finnish New Year is full of interesting traditions.

• Finns set fire to barrels of tar for the holiday. Thus, they signal that the outgoing year is also burning with tar, taking with it all the troubles and problems.
• Locals especially revere family values. Therefore, according to ancient tradition, before the New Year, they pay tribute to their deceased ancestors. A huge number of memorial candles are lit in this time period in cemeteries.
• One of the traditions is connected with the turnip. The Finns keep it for a year, and then for the holiday they wash the turnips, peel them and put a small candle in it. The symbol of this tradition is then given to the children for fun.

Among the modern traditions and customs of the New Year in Finland, we can distinguish:on cross-country skiing, a government address and a gala concert broadcast from Vienna.

Christmas divination

On the night of the holiday, locals try to open the veil over their future, resorting to fortune-telling. Most often, the Finns guess on the tin. A few moments before the New Year, they remember the passing year with a kind word, think over plans for the coming 12 months, melt the tin and pour it into a bucket of cold water.

A figurine formed from solidified tin indicates whether their plans are destined to come true or not. The heart symbolizes love feelings in the New Year, artsy patterns - profit, the outlines of a person - a wedding celebration, keys - career growth, a boat - a journey. If tin breaks up into a large number of tiny particles, this is a sad event.

At midnight, local beauties, according to tradition, guess at the suitors. They stand with their backs to the door and toss the shoe over their shoulder. If the front of the shoe points to the door, the girl should have a lover within the next twelve months.

Finnish festive table

Women on New Year's holidays traditionally prepare festive dishes typical of Finnish cuisine.

• Finland is a maritime country, the climate in it is not conducive to the development of agriculture, so the locals focus on fish dishes.
• Finns cook a lot of treats on Christmas Eve. They bake, s alt and smoke salmon and potatoes with carrots or swede, cookherring, stuffed turkey and other appetizing dishes. Roasted hams are the signature holiday food in Finland.
• On the festive table in this country, there are often dishes made from fish with meat.
• No Finnish New Year is complete without a local beetroot salad dressed with vinegar and cream.
• A festive table in this country is unimaginable without gingerbread and cinnamon cookies.

Gifts for the New Year

Presents in Finland on the night of the holiday are distributed by the so-called "Father of Christmas". His role in most cases is played by the disguised father of the family. To get a holiday gift, everyone, regardless of age, sing songs before going to bed. He gives gifts to everyone at night, when family members are already sleeping.

For the New Year in Finland it is not customary to give expensive gifts, they are usually presented here on Christmas Eve. The most common New Year's present in this country is a candle, symbolizing the manifestation of love or friendship. Finns also like to give each other sports equipment.

Tourist Tips

Vacationers who find themselves on the New Year's holiday in Finland, in order to get as many vivid impressions from its celebration as possible, do not hurt to listen to certain recommendations.

• To fully experience the fabulous atmosphere of the New Year in Finland (traditions and customsthis holiday are distinguished by originality and originality), you just need to go out on the evening of December 31 and go to your favorite restaurant or pub. In it, plunging headlong into the atmosphere of the holiday, you can drink beer or wine, taste dishes of Italian, German, Italian, Mexican, Japanese and Chinese cuisine.
• On the night of the holiday in Finland, as already mentioned, it is officially allowed to launch fireworks on the streets of cities. New Year's fireworks, illuminating the sky with bright flashes, sound everywhere here. Tourists can buy fireworks at a nearby shop and enjoy spectacular shows.
• In a large number of cities in the country, festivities take place on the main squares at night, which will be interesting to visit. Local residents, congratulating each other on the coming of the holiday, uncork bottles of champagne, shoot crackers loaded with serpentines and sweets.

General conclusion

On New Year's Eve in Finland, everyday life is closely intertwined with swirling snowflakes, the warm glow of candles and a general display of joy. The exquisite originality of ancient customs and traditions in this country contributes to the fabulous atmosphere of the holidays.