Article categories: News
Vaasa welcomes Christmas – the Christmas tree in the Market Square and the festive lights in the city centre are back
Published: 21.11.2024
The centre of Vaasa will once again be adorned with festive lighting from hundreds of Christmas lights in and around the Market Square. The festive lighting is crowned by the majestic Christmas tree erected in the square this week.
This year, the traditional Christmas tree erected in Vaasa’s Market Square was sourced from city-owned land along Strömberginkatu. Vaasa residents had suggested around ten potential candidates for the official Christmas tree, in addition to which suitable trees were sought from city-owned plots of land.
– We saw seven potential and sufficiently large trees in addition to the one that was eventually selected. We chose a spruce tree growing on city-owned land, estimated to be roughly 17 metres tall, says Jarmo Latvala, Service Manager of the Green Spaces Team.
The Green Spaces Unit felled and transported the tree to the Market Square on Tuesday, 19 November, during the opening week of the Christmas season. The Christmas tree was decorated, as usual, with 100 metres of light cables, warm-toned light baubles, and a lit star at the top, over a metre in height. In addition, the tree is surrounded by three LED-lit Christmas baubles, each with a diameter of about two metres.
The tree will adorn the square until January.
Energy efficient Christmas spirit in the city centre
Other Christmas lights in the city centre will also be lit, as usual. Hundreds of metres of LED light strips will be installed in the square, and festive lights can also be admired along the pedestrian sections of Vaasanpuistikko and Hovioikeudenpuistikko. This week, over 160 Christmas light baubles of various sizes will be hung along the pedestrian streets. New this year is a large, illuminated Christmas bauble, installed on the extended pedestrian section of Hovioikeudenpuistikko, completed in 2022. The bauble is spacious enough for people to sit inside and enjoy the festive lights.
Residents have generally appreciated the efforts to create a festive Christmas atmosphere in the city centre, with the lights receiving mostly positive feedback. The Christmas lights used by the city are energy-efficient LED lights and account for a very small proportion of the city’s total energy consumption. The City of Vaasa is investing in energy savings through various measures.
The Christmas lights will illuminate the Market Square at least until Epiphany week, and possibly even longer.