A guest from Rovaniemi - Santa Claus arrives in Zagreb!

Santa Claus will be in Zagreb on December 6th and 7th. He will come all the way from Rovaniemi to visit the good children. The dates of the visit have not been chosen by chance. Indeed, he has decided to arrive on the Finnish Independence Day and enhance the magic to Zagreb’s winter fairytale.

Santa Claus is coming to Zagreb from Rovaniemi on December 6^th.  He will stay for two days. He has heard a lot of good things about the children in Zagreb and also how special their city is, especially at this time of year. As the ambassador of Christmas, he has decided to come for a brief visit to see the good children of Zagreb and find out why their hometown was voted the Best European Christmas Market in 2016. The good old grandad did not pick the date for his visit by chance. Indeed, he is coming on December 6th which is the Finnish Independence Day. He will bring the flair of his country, but first and foremost, he will bring joy and smiles to the faces of many children. Children will be able to talk to him and tell him what they want for Christmas at a number of locations around the city. He plans to come to the Ice Park, Advent in Zrinjevac and he will also pay a visit to Rudolf, who is in charge of Advent for Children and Adults in Strossmayer Square. On December 7th he will visit Advent in Vranicanijeva Poljana and Advent in Klovićevi Dvori Gallery, and children will be able to see him in both places. He will also visit the Balbi Palace, which is one of the locations of the Courtyards project – the Advent edition.

Joulupukki, or Santa Claus, is the great Christmas hero. The most famous Fin is aware of his global influence and responsibility as the ambassador of goodwill, love and peace. He has lived in Lapland for longer than he can remember. His original home is in the mysterious fell of Korvatunturi, a thousand kilometres north of Helsinki. He lives there with Mrs. Claus and hundreds of elves and reindeer.

In 1927, when Uncle Marcus, a close friend of Santa Claus, inadvertently disclosed Santa’s location, many curious explorers embarked on a quest to find him. Obviously, they did not succeed because Santa’s whereabouts is one of the best kept secrets in the world. However, Santa Claus did not want to disappoint his friends, so some fifty years later he welcomed them for the first time in Rovaniemi, a town near the Arctic Circle, which has become Santa’s official hometown. Millions of people from all over the world journey to Santa Claus' village, which was opened just outside Rovaniemi, complete with his post office because, after all, Santa’s job is to receive and read letters. Over the past 30 years, he has received over 15 millions of them from a total of 198 countries worldwide. Although these letters are private and confidential, it has become known that they contain not only the authors’ wish lists but also their thoughts on life and on the things that worry them; many have also sought Santa’s advice on various matters.

Every year Santa leaves his village on December 23rd to dispense gifts to children. His send-off party is an exciting affair which involves elves dancing and singing to wish him luck on his adventures.

In Finland, Santa Claus brings gifts on Christmas Eve and not on Christmas, and he does not come down the chimney but rather knocks on the door and asks: Are there any good children here? He always gives them the gifts himself. Christmas is a family holiday, dedicated to children. In the Finnish language, the month of December was named after Christmas: Joulukuu, which literally means Christmas month.