Rovaniemi is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Lapland. It is located near the Arctic Circle in the northern interior of the country. The population of Rovaniemi is approximately 66,000, while the sub-region has a population of approximately 69,000. It is the 17th most populous municipality in Finland, and the 12th most populous urban area in the country. Rovaniemi is also the largest city in Europe by land area.
Lapland is the largest and northernmost region of Finland. The 21 municipalities in the region cooperate in a Regional Council. Lapland borders the Finnish region of North Ostrobothnia in the south. It also borders the Gulf of Bothnia, Norrbotten County in Sweden, Finnmark County and Troms County in Norway, and Murmansk Oblast and the Republic of Karelia in Russia. The topography of Lapland varies from vast mires and forests in the south to fells in the north. The Arctic Circle crosses Lapland, so polar phenomena such as the midnight sun and polar night can be viewed in this region.
Joulupukki is a Finnish Christmas figure. The name joulupukki literally means 'Christmas goat' or 'Yule goat' in Finnish; the word pukki comes from the Germanic root bock, a cognate of English "buck", meaning 'billy-goat'. An old Nordic folk tradition, the figure is now often conflated with Santa Claus.
In Christmas folklore and legends, Santa's Workshop is the workshop where Santa Claus and his elves live and make the toys and presents given out at Christmas. The exact location of Santa's workshop varies depending upon local culture, however it is generally believed to be somewhere around or on the North Pole. There are at least eight claimed locations for his workshop. For example, people in Canada send letters to Santa's Workshop at his North Pole location in Canada, with the unique postal code of "H0H 0H0". People in the United States believe the workshop is a sprawling commune located at the North Pole. Some people in the United Kingdom and Finland believe that Father Christmas' Workshop is located in Finland in Korvatunturi, Lapland. In addition to housing the factory where toys are either manufactured or distributed by the elves, the complex also houses the residence of Santa, his wife, companions, and all of the reindeer.
Rovaniemi Airport is the second busiest airport in Finland after Helsinki-Vantaa, as measured by the number of passengers and landings. It is located in Rovaniemi, Finland, about 10 kilometres (6 mi) north of Rovaniemi city centre. The Arctic Circle crosses the runway closer to its northern end.
Motion pictures featuring Santa Claus constitute their own subgenre of the Christmas film genre. Early films of Santa revolve around similar simple plots of Santa's Christmas Eve visit to children. In 1897, in a short film called Santa Claus Filling Stockings, Santa Claus is simply filling stockings from his pack of toys. Another film called Santa Claus and the Children was made in 1898. A year later, a film directed by George Albert Smith titled Santa Claus was created. In this picture, Santa Claus enters the room from the fireplace and proceeds to trim the tree. He then fills the stockings that were previously hung on the mantle by the children. After walking backward and surveying his work, he suddenly darts at the fireplace and disappears up the chimney.
Santa Claus Village is an amusement park in Rovaniemi in the Lapland region of Finland. It was opened in 1985.
Call Me Claus is a 2001 American Christmas comedy television film directed by Peter Werner and starring Whoopi Goldberg and Nigel Hawthorne. The movie involves Santa Claus (Hawthorne) who needs a replacement Santa after serving his 200-year reign. He decides on Lucy Cullins (Goldberg), an eccentric, grouchy shopping network executive, who hires him to promote Christmas decorations and presents on the network. The film premiered on TNT on December 2, 2001, and was also released on VHS and DVD by Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment. The film has since been reran on Lifetime, Freeform and The Hallmark Channel.
Santa's Workshop is a Disney short film directed by Wilfred Jackson, first released on December 10, 1932 in the Silly Symphonies series. The film features Santa Claus and his elves preparing for Christmas in Santa's workshop. A sequel, The Night Before Christmas, partially based on the 1823 poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas", was made the year after, portraying Santa leaving the toys in a house with nine children.
Santa Claus is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Christmas Eve. He is said to accomplish this with the aid of Christmas elves, who make the toys in his workshop, and with the aid of flying reindeer who pull his sleigh through the air.
William Beau Mirchoff is a Canadian-American actor best known for his role in the MTV series Awkward, his role as Jamie Hunter in Good Trouble, and his role in Now Apocalypse on Starz.
Christmas Story is a 2007 Finnish Christmas drama film directed by Juha Wuolijoki. It is the story of how an orphan called Nikolas became Santa Claus.
A Boyfriend for Christmas is a 2004 American made-for-television romantic Christmas film starring Patrick Muldoon and Kelli Williams. Directed by Kevin Connor and written by Roger Schroeder, it aired November 27, 2004 on the Hallmark Channel.
SantaPark is a Christmas theme park and visitor attraction in Rovaniemi in the Lapland region of Finland. SantaPark was opened 28 November 1998.
FC Santa Claus is a football club from Rovaniemi, Finland that currently plays in the Nelonen, the sixth tier of the Finnish football league system. The club has played as high as the third tier, Kakkonen, where they have played a total of 14 seasons. They were nearly promoted to the second-tier, Ykkönen, but lost their promotion playoff match to HIFK in 2010. The club plays at the Saarenkylän Stadion. Previously, they played at the Keskuskenttä Stadium, which seats 4,000 spectators, of which 2,800 are covered. They shared that stadium with Rovaniemen Palloseura (RoPS), who played in the top tier Veikkausliiga, until their relegation at the end of the 2020 season.
Kim Matula is an American actress. She made her television debut playing Tara Conner in the teen comedy film Queen Sized (2008) and later starred as Hope Logan in the CBS daytime soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful from 2010 to 2016, receiving a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series nomination. Matula later starred in the second season of Lifetime comedy-drama series, Unreal, and played the leading role in the Fox comedy series LA to Vegas (2018). In 2024, Matula played Jane Curtin in the comedy-drama film Saturday Night.
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale is a 2010 Finnish fantasy action horror comedy film written and directed by Jalmari Helander about people living near Korvatunturi who discover the secret behind Santa Claus. The film is based on the 2003 short film Rare Exports, Inc. and its 2005 sequel Rare Exports: The Official Safety Instructions by Jalmari Helander and Juuso Helander, both of which involve a company that traps wild Santa Clauses and trains and exports them to locations around the world.
Christmas at Cartwright's is a 2014 American-Canadian romance television film directed by Graeme Campbell and starring Alicia Witt, Gabriel Hogan and Wallace Shawn.
The Magic Crystal, also released as Santa's Magic Crystal and The Elf that Rescued Christmas in the UK, is a 2011 Finnish-Belgian computer-animated Christmas film directed by Antti Haikala from a screenplay by Haikala, Bob Swain, Dan Wicksman, Nuria Wicksman and Alessandro Liggieri. The film is part of a unified multimedia concept developed by Mikael Wahlfors, which also includes Andrew Bernhardt's Special Patrol children's books, the Italian-produced animated series Red Caps, and the mobile app World Polar Heroes. The Magic Crystal was produced by the Epidem ZOT, Aranéo and Skyline Animation.
