'LITTLE CHRISTMAS' IN FINLAND

Little Christmas in Finland

1st Advent

December has arrived and so has the first Sunday of advent. The time has come to cast the first light.

The celebration of advent is a tradition that Scandinavians hold dearly. It marks a four week countdown to Christmas where small festivities take place, and the anticipation of Christmas is celebrated.

For each Advent Sunday leading up to Christmas Eve, we will highlight a special tradition from each Nordic country. To start, Finland celebrates the first day of advent in a very special way: ‘Pikkujoulu’ means ‘little Christmas’ in Finnish, and it’s an event that Finns take great care preparing for as it kicks off all their December festivities. Friends and families, public and private institutions alike, prepare a preliminary serving of the traditional Finnish Christmas dishes, including ham, rice porridge and plenty of ‘glögi’ (mulled wine). Santa Claus also arrives early in Finland, as he brings out small gifts for the children and little joke gifts for the adults.

To kick start our own ‘little Christmas’ we lit up the first advent Sunday with a Mini Scented Candle. Merry pikkujoulu.

Contributor: Maria Laitinen @ScandiHome