SantaPark is a Christmas theme park and visitor attraction in

Rovaniemi Rovaniemi ( , ; sme, Roavvenjárga ; smn, Ruávinjargâ; sms, Ruäʹvnjargg) is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland, and its southern part Pe ...

in the Lapland region of

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

. SantaPark was opened 28 November 1998.

Theme

The park is designed to emulate the cavern residence of

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnigh ...

on the

Arctic circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at ...

. Popular culture often depicts

(or '' joulupukki'' in Finnish) coming from Lapland. Therefore, tourists come every year to Rovaniemi to meet Santa Claus. SantaPark is a Christmassy theme park known as Santa Claus’s own home cavern. During summertime, it is open from the middle of June to the first weeks of August. In winter season the park is open from the late November to the beginning of January. There is an entrance fee for the park. Santa Park (5307458332)

In SantaPark visitors can meet Santa Claus in his office and take pictures free-of-charge with him. In addition, it is possible to visit in Mrs. Gingerbread’s Gingerbread Bakery, see Ice Princess in her Icy kingdom called "Ice Gallery" and send postcards from the Post Office. Also, Candybar, Magic Train, Kota Café, Shopping area, Elf School and Handicraft’s area are included in the entrance ticket's price. On the main stage acrobatics show – Magic Christmas, is performed 3 times a day. SantaPark is a part of SantaPark Arctic World – brand, which also includes Santa Claus Secret Forest – Joulukka, Arctic Forest Spa – Metsäkyly, Lapland Luxury, Arctic TreeHouse Hotel, and Rakas Restaurant & Bar.

History and the business concept

SantaPark was opened on 28 November 1998 as an amusement park. The concept was created by Santaworld Ltd. (UK) and the cost of construction was 6.7 million Euros. The ownership consisted of Finnish companies such as Finnair, MTV, Sampo, Lasten Päivän Säätiö, Posti. Ministry of Trade and Industry was also involved. As an amusement park Santa Park did not reach its economical goals. Renewal of the concept was attempted in 2002 with a new ownership structure where the municipality of

was involved. The new concept featured Santa Claus,

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

and Lappish culture and nature. On 24 March 2009 ownership was transferred to Santa's Holding Ltd. where the majority is held by Mr. Ilkka Länkinen and Mrs. Katja Ikäheimo-Länkinen."Santa Park myytiin yrittäjäpariskunnalle = Santa Park was sold to entrepreneur couple", YLE news
/ref> Currently another owner with shares of SantaPark is Lappset Group Oy. Former owners are Eero Sarin, Lasten Päivän Säätiö, Sampo Oyj, Tapsan Tapuli Oy, TeliaSonera Finland Oyj, MTV Oy and Lappish newspaper Lapin Kansa Oy. New owners Ilkka Länkinen and Katja-Ikäheimo Länkinen have announced that they will focus more in the sales and marketing of SantaPark.

Attractions

The attractions of SantaPark include *Christmas Magic Show *Santa's Office *Post Office *Mrs. Gingerbread Bakery *Magic Train *Elf School *Elf Workshop *Post Office *Ice Gallery *Undercrossing of the Arctic Circle *Arktikum museum Toy Factory Shopping Area and Kota Hut Cafe also serve customers.

Architecture

The themepark is located in a cavern inside bedrock where visitors descend via a large portal. The space was originally designed as air-raid shelter.

Location and transportation

SantaPark can be reached by car along the national highway 4. It is located about 9 km northeast of Rovaniemi and about 2 km from Rovaniemi Airport. Frequent flights from Helsinki and other cities to Rovaniemi are offered throughout the year. The majority of international tourists switch their plane at Helsinki-Vantaa airport. Also in the

time there are many

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the re ...

flights from

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

and other countries that fly directly to Rovaniemi. Additionally there are

Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier founded in 1984. It is headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland and has its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. It forms the largest part of the Ryanair Holdings famil ...

flights to

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population ...

which has regular connection to

as well. Finally there are regular

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

and

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often ...

connections to most major cities in

. Local transportation is provided by Santa's Express (bus line number 8) from the centre of Rovaniemi to SantaPark and

Santa Claus Village Santa Claus Village ( fi, Joulupukin Pajakylä) is an amusement park in Rovaniemi in the Lapland region of Finland. It was opened in 1985. Location and transportation Santa Claus Village is located about northeast of Rovaniemi and about fr ...

. The bus trip to SantaPark takes about 15 minutes.

Notes and references

External links

Official Web Site
{{Finnish amusement parks Santa Claus Rovaniemi Amusement parks in Finland Buildings and structures in Lapland (Finland) Tourist attractions in Lapland (Finland) 1998 establishments in Finland Christmas in Finland Amusement parks opened in 1998