Santa Claus busy preparing for Christmas at Lapland home in Finland

994948-3x2-700x467 — Santa receives thousands of letters every day at Christmas time

Santa Claus, also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, Father Christmas, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure of Western culture who is said to bring gifts to the homes of well-behaved (“good” or “nice”) children on Christmas Eve (24 December) and the early morning hours of Christmas Day (25 December).

Santa Claus is generally depicted as a portly, joyous, white-bearded man—sometimes with spectacles—wearing a red coat with white fur collar and cuffs, white fur-cuffed red trousers, and black leather belt and boots and who carries a bag full of gifts for children.

Santa Claus is said to make lists of children throughout the world, categorizing them according to their behavior (“good” and “bad”, or “naughty” and “nice”) and to deliver presents, including toys, and candy to all of the well-behaved children in the world, and coal to all the misbehaved children, on the single night of Christmas Eve. He accomplishes this feat with the aid of his elves, who make the toys in his workshop at the North Pole, and his flying reindeer, who pull his sleigh.

visit-rovaniemi-love-santa-claus-web-opt-3 — Everyone knows Santa – the one and only – comes from Finland

Rovaniemi is the Official Hometown of Santa Claus, and the city’s most famous resident can be visited every day of the year in Santa Claus Village right on the Arctic Circle, an attraction that draws more than 300 000 annual visitors from all around the world.

This year too Santa Claus’s helpers have been sorting out piles of letters from around the world, each detailing children’s requests for this Christmas, at his home in Lapland, Finland.

In English, Italian or other languages, youngsters’ handwriting adorns the envelopes addressed to Father Christmas, some decorated with colourful hearts and stars.

As the holiday nears, every day is busy for Santa’s team in the city of Rovaniemi, which calls itself his official hometown, near the Arctic Circle.

8129168-3x2-700x467 — A board in the post office says Mr Claus gets some 32,000 letters a day at Christmas time.

China, Poland, Italy, Britain, Finland, Japan and Russia top the list of Mail senders.

In his Christmas message, Mr Claus said:

“Another year is coming to its end and it has been a turbulent year with many big problems but also many very good things.”

“Now as Christmas is coming close, reach out for those who need a helping hand, do it with compassion — that’s the real Christmas spirit.”

Thousands of people visit Rovaniemi each year ahead of Christmas, to meet the man himself, his reindeer and enjoy the magical scenery.

With just a few hours of light at this time of year, they make the most of sleigh rides among the snow-covered trees during the day.

Lapland tourism is a rare bright spot in the Finnish economy, which is struggling to recover from a long stagnation.

Travel to Lapland increased 10 per cent from January to October to more than 2 million overnight stays — and the number is expected to hit a new record in the full year.

In his 30 plus years in Rovaniemi, Santa Claus has received millions of visitors including pop stars, politicians, television personalities, athletes and regular people from every corner of the world in Santa Claus Village. His headquarters on the Arctic Circle has become known to many, many more around the globe through widespread international media coverage.

And yes.. You can also visit Santa Claus everyday of the year in Rovaniemi. The best time of travelling to Rovaniemi depends on what you are after – the constantly changing seasons all have their own characteristic light, temperature, natural phenomena and ideal activities.

You can get the info from here: http://visitrovaniemi.fi

Merry Christmas..!