If you’re keeping count - and we are - there’s just 100 days to go until Christmas.
The heart of Finland’s Christmas industry is in Rovaniemi and they’re gearing up already for the upcoming season, leaving summer far behind.
“Of course in the summer season we had different kinds of flowers outside in the yard, and we will change it quite soon, there will be Christmas trees again and more Christmas lights” explains Vanilla the Elf, one of the helpers who works at Santa Claus Village at the Arctic Circle.
Although the biggest tourist rush doesn’t start for a few months, staff are already preparing.
“It starts in November, but we already know when the nights get darker and Northern Lights start to appear, the tourist season has begun and we get more tourists here” Vanilla tells News Now Finland.
Further south there’s another clear sign that the long hot days of summer are behind us. The outdoor swimming pools at the Olympic Stadium closed on Sunday.
More than 250,000 people visited the pools to splash around this year, and then next time it’s open will be Mother’s Day in May 2020.
