How It Is Celebrated – Christmas In Finland

Everyone tries to be at home for Christmas, including fishermen who try to get their boats into the harbour by December 21st, St. Thomas’ Day.

Animals are given their own Christmas in Finland, with farmers sometimes hanging a sheaf of wheat on a tree to be eaten and pecked at by the birds. Nuts and pieces of suet are also hung on trees in bags from the branches.

Everyone cleans their houses ready for the three holy days of Christmas – Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day.

On Christmas Eve, or the day before, Christmas trees are bought from the local market or square. The seller expects you to bargain with them on the price.

Christmas Eve is very special and the most important day over Christmas. It’s traditional to eat rice porridge and plum fruit juice for breakfast. Then the tree is bought (if it hasn’t been already) and is decorated.

At midday, the ‘peace of Christmas’ is broadcast on radio and TV by the City Mayor of Turku (which is south Finland). Also, like in Sweden, the 1958 Disney special “From All of Us to All of You” is shown on the TV in the afternoon on Christmas Eve.

The main Christmas meal is eaten in the early evening.

Lutefish (salt fish) is the traditional starter, but is not so common nowadays.

The main meal is a leg of pork served with mashed potato traditionally baked slowly in birch-bark boxes in the oven with similarly cooked mashed swede.

Casseroles containing different vegetables including, rutabaga, carrot and potato are also common. Cured salmon is very popular and some people also have turkey.

Dessert is baked rice pudding/porridge eaten with spiced plum jam.

Christmas Day is much quieter with families usually spending it quietly at home.

On Boxing Day people like to go out. Skiing is popular along the flat terrain or skating if the lake or river has frozen.

In Finnish Happy/Merry Christmas is ‘Hyvää joulua’. In North-Sami, spoken in northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia, it’s ‘Buorit Juovllat’.