SantaPark is a Christmas theme park and visitor attraction in

Rovaniemi Rovaniemi ( , ; ; ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Lapland (Finland), Lapland. It is located near the Arctic Circle in the northern interior of the country. The population of Rovaniemi is approximately , while the Rovaniemi su ...

in the Lapland region of Finland. SantaPark was opened 28 November 1998.

Theme

The park is designed to emulate the cavern residence of

Santa Claus Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...

on the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

. Popular culture often depicts

(or '' joulupukki'' in Finnish) coming from Lapland. Therefore, tourists come every year to Rovaniemi to meet Santa Claus. 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. In SantaPark visitors can meet Santa Claus in his office and take pictures with him. Other attractions include ''Mrs. Gingerbread’s Gingerbread Bakery'', the ''Ice Gallery'', shows, cafeterias, workshops, and the Post Office, where it is possible to send postcards. SantaPark is part of the ''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 financial 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 Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

and Lapland's culture and nature. On 24 March 2009 ownership was transferred to Santa's Holding Ltd. where the majority is held by Ilkka Länkinen and 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 *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 ...

flights from Sweden, the United Kingdom and other countries that fly directly to Rovaniemi. Additionally there are

Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish Low-cost carrier#Ultra low-cost carrier, ultra low-cost airline group headquartered in Swords, County Dublin, Ireland. The parent company, Ryanair Holdings plc, includes subsidiaries Ryanair , Malta Air, Buzz (Ryanair), Buzz ...

flights to

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

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 motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

and

train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

connections to most major cities in Finland. Local transportation is provided by Santa's Express (bus line number 8) from the centre of Rovaniemi to SantaPark and Santa Claus Village. The bus trip to SantaPark takes about 15 minutes.

Notes and references

External links

Official Web Site
{{Christmas Amusement parks based on 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