Have a very Finnish Christmas!

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Christmas - it's the most wonderful time. Putting the trimmings up whilst sipping a glass of mulled wine and humming along to Santa Baby is pretty much par for the course in my house, but this year there will be one, huge difference... I won't be spending my Yule tide in the North West of England, but rather in none other than Santa's homeland - Finland. 

I've read so many great posts, (and admittedly wrote one myself) about celebrating Christmas and I thought it would be a fun idea to look at some of the Festive traditions of the weird and wonderful country I'm currently calling home.

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- In Finland, Christmas is a big deal and the preparations/celebrations are taken very seriously. In the Finnish language, December literally translates to, 'Christmas month' and that's exactly what it is - a whole month of preparations for the main event. These include, 'spring cleaning' the house, making sure it is sparkling from top to bottom, (and yes, that includes the sauna too!) making decorations and more cooking/baking than you can shake a wooden spoon at. Phew...

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- The Christmas tree is brought into the house quite late into December, usually around the 22nd or 23rd of December and stays up until Loppiainen, (January 6th) 

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- Christmas is typically celebrated on the 24th of December, that's when Joulupukki, (Father Christmas) makes his rounds. The day kicks off with 'Christmas porridge,' a rice pudding style dish sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. Of course, a Christmas sauna is essential, I mean, we are talking about Finland here guys! The family feast takes place on this day and the Finns dine on foods such as ham (kinkuu) swede casserole (lanttulaatikko), potato casserole (perunalaatikko) carrot casserole (porkkanalaatikko), beetroot-salad (rosolli), and maybe some sourdough rye bread. For the sweet-toothed there are gingerbread treats (piparkakku) and star-shaped plum tarts (joulutortuu). 

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- It is quite common for 'Santa' to actually visit the homes of various families and I have even heard of local Santa services being advertised in the newspaper. Hiring a good Santa is important and many Finns seek out recommendations from friends and family on who they should have handing out their prezzies. 

- On Christmas Eve, many Finnish families will visit the graves of relatives who have passed away, lighting candles for their loved ones.

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- An important and relatively well-know tradition in Finland is watching the Christmas Peace being declared in the city of Turku, in Southern Finland, which dates back to the 13th Century. At 12 noon on Christmas Eve, the cathedral bells sound and the Declaration of Christmas Peace is read out, reminding people to enjoy a safe and peaceful Christmastime, and to avoid disruptive and/or unsavoury behaviour. 

- The 25th is a time for family, relaxation and eating leftovers from Christmas dinner the day before. Children play with their new toys and families enjoy each other's company. Oh and who could forget, watching all the festive TV programmes. It's a much more low key affair than the typical British Christmas Day, at least in my family anyway. It's usually pretty hectic!

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- The drink of the festive season is Glogi. A mulled wine style beverage that can be made both with or without alcohol. There are different variations on offer; however it usually consists of a mixture of fruit juices, (grape, blackcurrant and apple) lots of sugar and festive spices such as cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, orange rind and ginger. The drink is usually served with a few raisins and blanched almonds popped in. The non-alcoholic variety is deliciously sweet. I have yet to sample the alcoholic kind but watch this space!

I hope you enjoyed reading about the various traditions and customs of Finnish people at Christmastime. A huge thank you to my Finnish friends for helping me with this post - i.e. allowing me to poke them for answers to my questions, repeatedly! I will definitely be hoping to incorporate some 'Finnish flavour' into our Christmas this year. Particularly the food and Glogi, YUM!