Santa Claus is undoubtedly a very busy man. About 5,00,000 visitors from across the world visit the small town of Rovaniemi every year, many just to see him. So when a group of us — journalists and influencers from India — get an appointment with Father Christmas, we dress in red and then head to the Santa Claus Village in Finland. (It received the status of the official home of Santa Claus in 2010.)
We arrive an hour before our appointment. Bright red boards greeted us at the entrance, pointing to the attractions of the village: a year-round office of Santa Claus, a restaurant, shopping areas, a husky park, and snowmobile trails in winter. The structures, made of stone and wood, have pointed roofs. Santa’s original home is known only to a few apparently, but his office is no secret: it is nestled in the woods of Lapland, the northernmost region of Finland, on the edge of the Arctic Line.
Santa Claus at Santa Claus Office in Rovaniemi Lapland Finland | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
This year, Rovaniemi is celebrating the post-pandemic tourism boom. The grand opening of the Christmas season began on November 19 at the central square of Santa Claus Village. As part of the festivities, the Mayor of Rovaniemi presented the annual UNICEF donation made by the city of Rovaniemi to UNICEF Finland. The traditional opening culminated in Santa’s arrival and speech.
Standing there, in the northern-most region of Earth, the village is joyously festive — soon it will be a spectacle with mounds of snow, decked up trees, and yellow lights adding warmth in the bitter cold.
Rovaniemi the morning of Christmas Opening 2021 | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
No ordinary post office
First, we visit the post office. Unlike the drab, functional ones back home, this one is filled with postcards; colourful candles; stuffed toys of Santa Claus and owls; and magnets showcasing reindeer and the northern lights. A Christmas tree stands in the corner near a fireplace, with red and white sacks of gifts at its foot.
At the entrance, we learn that this is no ordinary post office. Two tall post boxes stand near the door: one marked ‘normal mail’ and the other, wearing a Christmas cap, marked ‘Christmas mail’.
Santa Claus with elves at the post office at the Arctic Circle in Rovaniemi | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Many of the workers at the post office are Santa’s ‘elves’. Katja, an elf who has been working at the post office for 15 years, beams at me from behind the counter. She and her elf friends patiently sift through the half-a-million letters that Santa Claus receives every year: he receives at least one letter every day.
Katja will sort through the avalanche during Christmas, when as many as 30,000 letters for Santa will pile up in just a day. These come mostly from Finland and other European countries; the U.K., and Asian countries such as Japan and China. Sometimes the post office also receives gifts for Santa, including ornaments for his tree, toys, and even cutlery.
“We generally let Santa know what’s inside these letters, because it’s very important for him to know,” Katja says with an air of seriousness. “The most popular requests are for books, dolls, games, skiing and sports equipment, cookies and candies. Some write asking for smartphones, iPhones, computers. And some ask for world peace, good health for family, good fortune in studies, or a boyfriend or girlfriend.”
Santa Claus comes to town
And the strangest requests? “Lots of children ask for pajamas,” she laughs. Not all the letters that come to Santa have postal addresses on them. The children just assume that Santa knows where they live. The elves reply to thousands of letters on behalf of Santa. Katja says, “Most of our replies go to schools, kindergartens and sometimes hospitals.”
Meeting Santa
After posting our letters, we walk to Santa’s office. A spirited elf meets us at the entrance and leads us down winding corridors. Along the way, we spot photos of dignitaries who have visited the most famous resident of Rovaniemi: actors, politicians, rockstars, world leaders. There is even a portrait of Santa with former India President Pranab Mukherjee.
We leave our phones outside and finally enter the large room where Santa sits, a myth in flesh. He is tall and looks reassuringly wise. Dressed in white and red, and wearing enormous boots, his magnificent beard flows down till his lap. He greets us not with a loud ‘Ho, ho, ho!’ but a polite ‘Good morning, how are you all doing?’ After a brief, friendly chat (see box) and – of course – photographs, we troop out towards our final stop that morning: a large enclosure full of reindeer.
Santa Claus and his reindeer | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The reindeer are as big as cows and as playful as dogs. We met moody and hyperactive teenage reindeer and some reclusive adult reindeer. They chase us around, excited to eat grass out of our palms, sometimes even nibbling our fingers with their tiny teeth. Once they eat all the food we carried, and disinterestedly posing for photographs, then saunter away to sunbathe.
We leave Santa Claus Village smiling. The village may elicit scorn from Santa Claus deniers and ideologues for making a spectacle out of an age-old myth and for promoting consumerism. But for us, and for all the happy folk around us, this place promises what we all often dream of: pure, unadulterated child-like joy.
The writer was in Finland at the invitation of Finnair and Visit Finland
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