On December 6th, Finnish people all over the world celebrate their Independence Day (you can read more about this at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_Declaration_of_Independence).

This year, the CFCA held their celebration and annual Christmas party on Saturday, December 5th, at the Scandinavian Centre. Over 90 people were in attendance, so we had a very full and happy Viking Hall.

Gathering in the Viking Hall

To start the evening, we enjoyed some opening remarks from our association’s president, Ms. Outi McEachern, as well as the Honourary Consul of Finland, Ms. Judith Romanchuk. Following the initial remarks, we were entertained with musical performances by some of our members, then on to drinks and an amazing feast, full of many traditional Finnish holiday dishes.

CFCA-christmas-program
Program and Menu

After supper, we sang some Christmas carols in Finnish and English, and the Little Finns performed the Christmas Classic “Tonttujen jouluyö” for us (you can see a similar version on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYA-R_75Aj8). Then, we had a surprise visit from Joulupukki, who delivered gifts to each of the children.

Little Finns performing.
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What a wonderful time we had, and we are now all looking forward to the holidays and the new year.

Hyvää Joulua from all of us at the CFCA!

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Lion’s Festival of Lights at Confederation Park, Calgary. Go and visit the beautiful display (www.lionsfestivaloflights.ca)

For more photos from the event, visit our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Calgary-Finlandia-Cultural-Association-194624443904568/photos_stream