Taidetta, tarinoita, journalismia

Lapland. Snow is beautiful and makes the landscape peaceful. Just now we don't have at all snow in Helsinki in Finland. Every third Christmas is without snow in Helsinki. But if you go to Lapland there is plenty of snow and also plenty of tourists from all over the world. People coming to Lapland may see snow for the first time in their life. Then you have to learn to ski and walk in the snow, it might be slippery. In photos you can see the snow where ever you are. Photos: Sirpa Pääkkönen Senate square, Helsinki

  Merry Christmas from Finland! For Finns the Christmas is the most important celebration of the year. Families gather together and celebrate Christmas Eve. In the old town of Turku, the former capital of Finland, a special ceremony is held to declare the beginning of Christmas peace period, starting at 12 o'clock noon on Christmas Eve and lasting for twenty days. The citizens are wished a merry Christmas and prompted to spend the Christmas time peacefully, avoiding noisy and rowdy behavior. Children watch the animation Snowman in television and wait Santa Claus. Actually Santa Claus speaks and reads Children's letters on television in the morning. The Christmas Eve many people visit cemeteries and light candles on the graves of their relatives. The cemeteries look like a sea of candles on white snow, if there is snow. In Helsinki there is no snow just now. Sauna is important for Finns and the Christmas sauna is a special tradition. The sauna has a puri...

Cards by Martta Wendelin Y ou can easily send Christmas greetings by email or by Facebook but old traditional printed Christmas cards create a special atmosphere. In Finland people send 30 million Christmas cards last year and now it’s time to send them again. Every year designers develop new pictures for Christmas cards in which the elves and Santa Claus make adventures, stars shine, candles give warm light and Christmas trees are decorated. In addition there are traditional Christmas cards designed by famous artists like Marta Wendelin . She drew about 650 Christmas cards between 1931-1963. She shaped the image about traditional Finnish Christmas - how it looked like over 50 years ago when Finland was still very much an agricultural country. Here you see some of her Christmas cards.