Take a Christmassy walk with your friends and family in the Helsinki City Centre and admire traditional nativity scenes. The scenes are placed in shop windows along Aleksanterinkatu; in Stockmann, Aseman Kello, Nordea, and Café Engel. You can also view nativity scenes in the Helsinki Cathedral, Old Church, Kamppi Chapel, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church's headquarters at Eteläranta 8. Many churches display nativity scenes as well.

The overarching theme of this year's nativity scenes is Bringer of Hope. "The theme of hope leads us toward something and gives us direction. It is more than being hopeful, because hope can be an active pursuit of better circumstances. Winter coat collections or christmas gift appeals are examples of this type of activity that gives hope for survival during the cold winter months or joy to the long-awaited celebration", says Satu Laakso, Head of Early Childhood Education for the Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Helsinki.

Hope for a better future carries us when times are hard. Circumstances can always improve. Sometimes expecting change can be even more rewarding than actually achieving what you have been hoping for. The journey matters, too, as it provides us with ample opportunities for learning.

The ‍Christmas story contains a revolutionary though; the bringer of faith, hope, and love is, in fact, the small and helpless Baby Jesus, who needs love and care Himself. The life of a child lies on hope and trust. In order to grow, a child will need to be listened to, to be heard, loved, and cared for.

Jesus brings us hope and invites us to carry it on to where it is most desperately needed.

Anyone Can Bring Hope

‍The nativity scenes were built by Päivi Vuorelma-Glad and Pia Niemi. Their aim was to build minimalistic scenes. "At their center is the child, who can safely rest and grow, surrounded by the adults who care for him. We bring the color of green—symbolizing hope—into the settings in different ways, for example through the Christmas tree. We hope that the figures and details in the scenes will evoke in the viewer both memories and reflections on the tree, the child, the story, and the gift of Christmas.

The Christ Child in the manger brought hope, love, and goodness into the world. In the Christmas story, the angel was also a bringer of hope, saying to the shepherds: “Do not be afraid.” We, too, can be bearers of hope to those around us."

Nativity scenes are linked to Lutheran and Catholic Christmas tradition. Scenes can be admired at churches throughout the city during December.

The scenes are on display until Epiphany on 6 January, 2026.

For more information and exact locations, please visit www.jouluseimet.fi. Please note that the website is only available in Finnish. The site is, however, useful when finding the nativity scenes, as it shows their locations on Google Maps.

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