Colors of Lapland - traditions, festivals, mentality and lifestyle

Lapland is associated with wonderful winter landscapes; both children and adults dream to visit home of Santa Claus. It is an amazingly picturesque region with many fabulous national symbols and traditions. Like many centuries ago, indigenous people pay much attention to craft traditions; masterpieces of local artisans are incredibly popular among foreign visitors. The most common and popular are products of buckskin; lovely accessories and clothing items are made of it. Those who wish to bring back original souvenirs should definitely pay attention to the crafts of deer antlers and a rare arctic birch.

A pretty common memorable gift is a knife. One of the oldest plants in the region is located in Rovaniemi; it includes a small museum dedicated to the production of knives, as well as a very interesting shop where you can buy high-quality products.

Locals love and revere their traditions that are embodied in amazing holidays. Since 1972, annual youth festival, Jutajaiset, is held in Sodankylä. Over the years the festival has gained an impressive scale; since 1995, it has been carried out in Rovaniemi. During the festival, vacationers have an opportunity to visit a lot of interesting events, see performances by folk bands, interesting exhibitions and fairs. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

Ranua City is a permanent venue of another interesting local holiday - the Festival of cloudberries. It was first held 40 years ago; the main event of the festival is a grand fair. The festival takes place in the first half of August and usually lasts for three days; annually it is visited by more than five thousand visitors. Locals come to the fair from all regions of the country to buy harvested berries and take part in exciting contests. The most important event of the festival is choosing ‘Queen of cloudberry;’ that’s a beauty contest and it is considered very prestigious to win it. This fabulous national holiday is sure to be interesting for foreign guests that will be able to participate in interesting competitions, to taste delicious desserts of northern berries and to enjoy hospitality of locals.