Paikallisuutiset
Kemijärvi News: "Winter is a part of us" – Welcome to Kemijärvi, the Winter City of the Year!
Kemijärvi won the Finnish 2022 Winter City competition.
Kemijärvi has been declared this year’s official Winter City of the Year in Finland. The town won the 2022 Winter City competition hosted by Yle’s factual programme Puoli Seitsemän in February.
To enter the competition, which was held for the first time this year, contestants needed to submit a wintry 30-second video. Videos were submitted to the competition from 60 different cities across Finland.
Among the other contestants were Savitaipale and Vihti.
Kemijärvi emerged as the clear winner, receiving 45 per cent of audience votes. A total of 38,802 votes were cast.
You can watch the victorious video here .
Kemijärvi is surrounded by icy lakes during the wintertime. Ice hole swimming is a popular hobby. Photo: Esa Keskinen / Koti-Lappi.29
Genuineness of the wintry scenes
The development company Kemijärven Kehitys Oy contracted a local professional, Janne Jakola, to shoot and produce the video.
Other people were also involved, including staff from the tourism division of Kemijärven Kehitys.
Jakola believes that the deciding factor in the victory was the genuineness of the wintry scenes.
It was important to show beautiful winter landscapes in the video, but the greatest focus was still placed on the people of the region.
Kemijärvi’s submission video can be found on the City of Kemijärvi’s YouTube channel, Kemijärven kaupunki.
Winter is a part of us
In the light of the late winter sun in early April, the victory was celebrated with a public event open to everyone at Kemijärvi Cultural Centre and the surrounding area.
"Though the competition was lighthearted, the number of votes we received leaves us with no doubt that the trophy was well deserved by both Kemijärvi and Lapland. Winter is a part of us, says Kemijärvi’s mayor, Atte Rantanen .
The competition is planned to be an annual event.
Read Kemijärvi News travel magazine from here .