Children’s Independence Day celebration to be held at the National Opera House on 3 December

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo will host the national children’s Independence Day celebration on Wednesday 3 December at the National Opera House in Helsinki. This year, two children born in 2015 from each municipality have been invited to attend.

Independence Day is for everyone, both adults and children. Held for the first time in 2017, the children’s Independence Day celebration has become an established part of Finland’s Independence Day festivities. The theme of this year’s celebration is ‘Braver Together’.

At the beginning of the celebration, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo will welcome every guest personally. After the official portion of the event, guests will be able to enjoy a variety of programming, sweet and savoury refreshments and musical performances. Christoffer Strandberg and Berta will be the MCs.

As in previous years, the celebration will also feature a surprise performance. Surprise performers at earlier celebrations have included Robin Packalen, Käärijä and Mirella.

Along with the Prime Minister, Minister of Justice Leena Meri, Minister of Education Anders Adlercreutz, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Sari Multala, Minister of Transport and Communications Lulu Ranne, Minister of Social Affairs and Health Kaisa Juuso, Minister of Local and Regional Government Anna-Kaisa Ikonen, Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen and Minister of Youth, Sport and Physical Activity Mika Poutala will attend the event.

All in all, 537 children are expected to arrive at the Opera House in Helsinki from 300 municipalities throughout Finland. The Prime Minister’s invitation was sent to the municipalities in the beginning of September, and the municipalities decided which children would attend.

The Independence Day celebration is planned and executed by the Prime Minister’s Office, the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare and the Office of the Ombudsman for Children. As was the case last year, this year’s celebration is also co-organised by the National Opera and Ballet. The event will be streamed live on the YLE Areena online service.

Inquiries: Tiina-Kaisa Laakso-Liukkonen, Chief Specialist, tel. +358 50 329 4283 and Jaakko Ranta, Communications Specialist, tel. +358 50 472 1684

The email addresses of employees at the Prime Minister’s Office are in the format [email protected].