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Children celebrated Finland’s independence in a reception hosted by Prime Minister Sipilä

statsrådets kommunikationsavdelning
Publication date 5.12.2017 16.46
Press release 572/2017

Over 500 schoolchildren celebrated Finland’s centenary at a reception hosted by Prime Minister Juha Sipilä. Two ten-year-old children from each municipality in Finland were invited to the event in Helsinki. The celebration was organised by Mannerheim League for Child Welfare, the Ombudsman for Children, and the ‘Finland 100 Years’ project organisation anniversary organisation of the Prime Minister’s Office.

Prime Minister Sipilä shook hands with each child and welcomed them personally to the event. The guests brought their own greeting cards for Finland. The programme consisted of dancing, rapping, quizzes and decorating gingerbread biscuits. A surprise guest, Isac Elliot, performed at the reception.

- The best thing about Finland is that it’s a peaceful country and it’s a good place to live, commented fourth graders Ellen Ollus and Aaro Helo from Vaasa.
- I was so nervous about the event. We rehearsed the hand-shaking so that daddy pretended to be Juha Sipilä, said Aaro Helo.


- All of you who are ten years old now will be in a key position when Finland reaches its 150th anniversary of independence. What you do in the coming years will largely shape the way Finland looks then. Remember to organise a great reception then too, Prime Minister Sipilä said.

Schoolchildren from 261 municipalities turned up at the event. The guests who travelled the longest distance were those who came from Utsjoki, Finland’s northernmost municipality.

Photographs

The media may also publish photos supplied by the Prime Minister's Office, which are available in the Flickr account.  https://www.flickr.com/photos/FinnishGovernment

Social media identifiers for the reception

#suomenlastenjuhla #suomi100

Inquiries: Anne Sjöholm, Head of Communications for EU Affairs +358 40 537 07 33, Prime Minister’s Office, Maria Gnosspelius, Head of Communications, MLL, [email protected], tel. +358 50 325 6126

 
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