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Santa begins Christmas journey from Lapland home
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A man dressed as Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, waves fom his sleigh before leaving on his long Christmas journey in temperatures of -26 celsius from Santa's Village at the Arctic Circle in Finnish Lapland on December 23, 2018. (Lehtikuva/AFP/Laura Haapamäki)
S
anta Claus has set off to deliver Christmas presents to children around the world, with his helpers giving him a musical send-off at his Lapland home as he embarks on the mammoth trip.
Families gathered in temperatures of -22 degrees Celsius on Sunday night in Rovaniemi, which calls itself Santa's official hometown, near the Arctic Circle as his helpers put on a song-and-dance performance to wish him luck.
Santa briefly spoke to the crowd, wishing them a peaceful and happy Christmas before leaving on a sleigh to stock it up with presents for his Christmas Eve journey.
Read also: Nature needs its little helpers too, says Santa in Christmas greeting
"Hope you all have had a great year. Of course, there have been many things in the world that should have been different," he said in English.
"Hopefully, Christmas would bring a little moment when the world and its people would calm down for a while to spend time with family and friends."
