Vantaa, Helsinki and Tampere all celebrated the Chinese Lunar New Year at the same time. The celebrations were kicked off in Helsinki Airport in Vantaa with performances of Chinese folk music and dragon dances.
This is the first time ever that three Finnish cities celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year simultaneously. According to the media The Star this should be seen as a testament to the shared commitment to promoting cultural exchange between China and Finland.
In Vantaa the guests were staff from the Chinese Embassy in Finland, people of the city Vantaa, Finnish airport operator Finavia, and the Association of Finnish Travel Industry.
The Mayor of the city of Vantaa, Pekka Timonen, opened the event and said the following about the city’s importance:
“Vantaa is a multicultural city, and I am very happy to have a lively Chinese community in Vantaa. Today, the tenth most spoken language in Vantaa is Chinese.”
The events celebrating The Chinese Lunar New Year have been organized jointly be the Chinese Embassy in Finland and the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, in cooperation with the Chinese Enterprises Association in Finland and the Chinese Students and Scholars Association in Finland.
Source: Xinhua
