Real-life Santa embarks on Christmas journey from Arctic Finland

Yle has been broadcasting Santa’s departure from Korvatunturi since the 1960s.

Finland’s real life Santa Claus has set off from Lapland’s Korvatunturi on his gift-giving journey.

Korvatunturi sits on the far north-eastern border between Finland and Russia, near the Urho Kekkonen national park.

The Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle) was there to witness Santa’s departure and broadcast the first minutes of his journey, an annual tradition dating back to the 1960s. Watch Yle’s archived 1965 departure here.

Since the 1980s, Yle has also collaborated with The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) in order to share Santa’s seasons greetings with a wider international audience.

Related stories from around the North: 

Finland: Christmas Special: How Santa became Finnish, Yle News