Summer in Lapland and the Midnight Sun

Have you ever heard about the Midnight Sun? It's a phenomenon  that occurs in the proximity of the Arctic and Antarctic circle  where the sun does not set at night.  Is the contrast to the polar nights, where the sun keeps hidden below the horizon.  Sounds like magic? It feels like it.

Source: St.Lapland's Facebook

Lapland is situated on the Arctic circle and enjoys both periods. The Midnight Sun happens during the summer months,  while the Polar Nights take place during winter.

The Midnight sun allows you to enjoy incredibly long sunsets observing the sun coming down until the horizon but staying there during the night. This gives Lapland endless days and light to enjoy the nature, or summer festivals as the Midnight Sun Film Festival.

In Ruka-Kuusamo we celebrate the beginning of the summer period as well! In the Ruka and Kuusamo Midsummer fest you can enjoy traditional Finnish music or dance all night long!

But for those who prefer the relaxation of our landscapes and the wildlife, there is plenty to do as well. The Midnight Sun period is perfect for wildlife watching. The constant light helps to spot the Moose or the Bear, and the nature is just so alive that you will feel like in the middle of nowhere : just the nature and you.

Source: Karhukuusamo.com

If you would like to experience we have a large catalogue for summer holidays in Lapland, just visit our website!

The Midnight Sun is coming, are you going to miss it?

St. Lapland Team.

Arctic Flavours

When travelling, one way to experience a destination and a culture is through food and culinary experiences. Often we do it kind of without noticing, one must eat everyday and when travelling most people prefer to try the local cuisine. What more accessible way is there to learn about a culture than how its people satisfy and glorify a basic human need?

Food culture tells a lot about the people, the rhythm of everyday life and traditions. Not only the food itself is interesting, also how it is eaten: is having dinner a social event, do people have one main meal of the day or several small meals, a warm meal or a cold one – all these things shape the daily life of people in the destination you are travelling in.

One of the main features of Finnish food is pure flavours. Our food traditions root in the nature and still today our fresh forests and clean waterways are an inspiration for chefs – professional as well as passionate hobby chefs.

I meet Jarmo Pikänen at his restaurant, Studio Restaurant Tundra. I am here to plan the launch of our new product, a five day culinary break in Lapland. The programme is an excursion into northern cuisine and starts by acquiring the needed ingredients. During the stay the guests have seven gourmet meals prepared from the best local ingredients in season. There is also a hands-on cooking experience together with Jarmo.

The demanding arctic climate of the north makes the produce of waters and forests tasty and intense in flavor. Our culinary break will run all year around and the programme varies according to the season. In the summer and fall one of the highlights will for sure be to find and pick ingredients from the nature. As these goodies are under a thick cover of snow in the winter time, we then focus on getting familiar with the traditions of reindeer herding and the production of reindeer meat. Fish is available throughout the year and fresh fish plays a big role in the northern cuisine. The traditions and delicacies from fresh fish will be presented in Restaurant Juomuskota.

Jarmo tells me about the wild herbs that are in season now. Jarmo has prepared a salad of wild herbs, a symphony of fresh and intense flavours, taking my mind out to the fields and forests... Nettle, Lady’s Mantle and Dandelion. With the salad Jarmo serves smoked whitefish, a true Finnish summer classic. Soon the berries will be in season and later my personal favourite: the mushrooms. I just love to go mushroom picking, to stroll in the forest and then be able to enjoy the flavours of nature.

Anyway, the task of today is to plan our product launch! But somehow we get into talking about the actual programme, we look forward to presenting Arctic Flavours to our co-operational partners and customers very soon!