The Coca-Cola Christmas Truck Tour Opening Event will take place at Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi on Thursday November 21st 2024. The Rovaniemi event is the first of Coca-Cola’s five international Christmas events, which will be held in four major metropolises in Asia and America after Rovaniemi, including New York.The exceptional opening event of the tour will take place at the northern end of Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi on Thursday November 21st 2024, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m, after which the Christmas Truck will begin its tour around Finland.
The event at the Arctic Circle will feature Finland’s largest-ever drone display, with 1,000 drones illuminating the sky. The drones, illuminated with LED lights, will perform a meticulously choreographed show bringing Santa Claus and enchanting Christmas images to life in the sky. The same drone light display will be showcased later at the four other international Christmas events. This is the first time Finland will experience such a large-scale drone display, and such spectacles remain rare worldwide. Finland’s largest drone light show will begin between 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., weather permitting.
This year, the Christmas Truck Tour will cover all areas of Finland, from north to south and east to west. The other location in Northern Finland on the tour is Oulu. Other tour cities include Siilinjärvi, Jyväskylä, Tuuri, Tampere, Turku, Lahti, Kotka, Helsinki, and Vantaa. The Christmas truck brings a popular family event to each location, which has previously drawn approximately 150,000 Finns. The event annually brings together families and groups of friends to enjoy the atmosphere created by the Christmas truck and its festivities.
At the event, you can:
See the iconic Coca-Cola Christmas Truck from TV commercials in all its lighted glory and take photos beside it
Share the spirit of kindness and care, integral to Christmas, by hanging Christmas messages for loved ones on the Goodwill Christmas Tree (each location will have a unique tree where visitors can add their own messages and wishes)
Participate in competitions by downloading the Coke App on their mobile phones and trying to win surprise gifts to take home
Enjoy sugar-free Coca-Cola and join a charity roulette with empty cans for a chance to win Christmas prizes (all can deposits collected during the events will be donated to food gift cards for low-income families through the Finnish Red Cross’s Good Christmas Spirit campaign)
Every year, the Christmas truck attracts tens of thousands of Finns, and this year is likely to be no different, with large crowds anticipated. Visitors are advised to expect traffic and to use public transport, as parking in Santa Claus Village is limited. Visit Rovaniemi will arrange a free bus service from Rovaniemi city center to the event.
Marketing responsibility is important to Coca-Cola, so the Christmas Truck events, like the company’s other events, have a minimum age requirement of 13 years; younger children are welcome to attend with a guardian.
The Christmas Truck is known not only for its lights and red color but also for the Santa Claus figure on its side, a source of pride for Finns. This Santa Claus was designed in the 1930s by Haddon Sundblom, of Finnish descent. His creation has shaped the modern-day, internationally recognized image of Santa Claus, who is now seen as a red-suited, friendly bringer of joy.
