The Christmas opening festivities in Rovaniemi in the Arctic Circle have traditionally started the Christmas season in Finland for years gathering people from around the world. For the first time, now everyone has the chance the join a live-broadcast held in Santa Claus' official hometown.

The festivities this year will start with a Christmas Carol concert followed by Santa Claus' annual speech. Elves have whispered that the speech's theme this year is going to be focused on the meaning of goodwill.

Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi, Finnish Lapland

Rovaniemi is located up in the north of Finnish Lapland. In winter, it is snowy and magical enjoying a good amount of snow and nice below zero degrees celsius. The nights are long, perhaps as long as the days are in the summer. Candles give a special warmth and atmosphere to the snowy streets. Santa Claus' Village is like taken straight from a Christmas fairytale; white snow, big and small Christmas trees all over the place, and beautiful Christmas lighting.

Rovaniemi is the biggest winter destination in Northern Europe. If you have been there, you can see why. Winter activities such as cross-country skiing, snow-mobiling, husky-sledding, and reindeer sleigh rides are enjoyed from the early winter on. Not to mention the magical Northern Lights tours to experience the unique beauty of the Aurora Borealis out there in the silent forest, where they are best appreciated. There are also ice and snow igloos that serve as accommodation, some with a view to the Northern Lights.

Grand opening of official Christmas season in Santa Claus Village, Rovaniemi, Finnish Lapland live-streamed

When you visit Rovaniemi, you can easily cross the Polar Arctic Circle. A unique experience on its own. Meanwhile, Santa Claus and his Elf, Gilbert, get ready for the Christmas season.

Santa Claus officially lives in Napapiiri, 96930 Rovaniemi, Finland. Every year, Santa Claus opens the official Christmas season on November 10th. This year, for the first time you can watch the opening directly from Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi, Finnish Lapland from the comfort of your home.

Napapiiri is geographically located above the Polar Arctic Circle. Every year, people from around the world come to Rovaniemi to witness the official Christmas season opening in Santa Claus Village and stay for some Finnish pre-Christmas early winter wonderland fun. As it is expected, Santa Claus' Main Post Office is more busy than usual at this time of the year.

Santa Claus Main Post Office is open all year around. Santa receives hundreds of thousands of letters from children all over the world /Source: © Visit Rovaniemi for Interesting Engineering

When you visit Santa's Post Office in Rovaniemi you can see Santa's Elves opening hundreds of thousands of letters from children from around the world. Santa's workshop is also busy with elves and visitors who can meet Santa Claus in person and take a photo with him. Santa Claus can always be visited any day at any time of the year in Santa Claus Village, the Arctic Circle in Rovaniemi.

Even though Santa Claus is very generous, he cannot fly everyone to Lapland. However, by using technology and thanks to the Internet, he is inviting everyone from around the world to take part in the festivities online. The official Christmas season opening and Santa Claus' speech are going to be live-streamed from the Arctic Circle at 1:45 PM GMT (time zone convertor here). The live broadcast is going to be available on the Visit Rovaniemi Facebook channel followingthis link or on Vimeo on this link.

Let's the holiday festivities begin!

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