Children’s Independence Day party approaching

On 7 December, Prime Minister Sanna Marin will host an Independence Day celebration for over 560 children at the House of the Estates. Minister of Finance Annika Saarikko, Minister of Justice Anna-Maja Henriksson and Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Maria Ohisalo will also attend the event.

Two children from every municipality in Finland have been invited to the party. Prime Minister Marin and the other ministers will welcome each guest at the beginning of the event.

After the official portion, the guests will be treated to a social programme around the theme of the celebration. The theme of this year’s event is The Makers of the Future. The party will be hosted by actor Christoffer Strandberg. As in previous years, the event will also feature a surprise performance.

564 children from 283 municipalities will arrive at the House of the Estates. The guests from Utsjoki, the northernmost municipality in Finland, will make the longest journey to take part in the celebration. The municipality with the smallest population to be represented at the event will be Luhanka, located in Central Finland. 

The Children’s Independence Day party has been held three times before: in 2017, 2018 and 2019. It was first organised in honour of Finland’s centenary and has since become an established part of the Independence Day festivities. The party could not be organised in 2020 or 2021 due to COVID-19.

The Prime Minister’s Office plans and organises the party together with the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare, the Office of the Ombudsman for Children and the National Child Strategy. A live webcast of the handshake portion of the event be available on the Government’s YouTube channel.

Inquiries: Tiina-Kaisa Laakso-Liukkonen, Chief Specialist, tel. +358 295 160 220, and Aapo Riihimäki, Communications Specialist, tel. +358 50 471 3020, Prime Minister’s Office