Winter events in Saariselkä and Inari

5 min read Updated October 2026 Compare all tours

Saariselkä is a small resort village, and its winter calendar is short. A Christmas festival and the first ski days open the season in late November. The darkest weeks follow, then a film festival in Inari in January and reindeer races on the ice of Lake Inari towards the end of March. For some of these the 2027 dates are already fixed. For others, the organisers had not published them by mid-October 2026, and this page says so instead of guessing.

Most of the events take place in Inari, about 75 km from Saariselkä by road, or in Ivalo, the main service village between the two. Plan transport early if you want to attend one; the page on getting around covers buses, taxis and hire cars.

Late November opens the season

The regional tourist office lists the Saariselkä Christmas Festival for 21 November 2026. It marks the approach of the polar night with local food and gatherings in the village. On the same day the ski resort on the Kaunispää and Iisakkipää fells starts its winter lift ticket season, so the first weekend combines slopes and festival.

A week later, on 27 and 28 November 2026, Ilonka's Christmas Fair takes place in Ivalo. Both dates fall before the polar night, when the sun still clears the horizon for a short while around midday.

December in the polar night

From 6 December 2026 to 6 January 2027 the sun does not rise above the horizon in Saariselkä. The last sunrise before that, on 5 December, lasts only 23 minutes. The days are not black, though: on 21 December there is civil twilight from 09:36 to 14:41. Our page on the polar night explains how the light changes.

The ski resort plans to open its Aurora Tobogganing run from the top of Kaunispää on 15 December 2026. The resort says its aurora light art along the run is at its best from December to February, during the polar night season. The run is only open while the lifts run, and the top start is not for children under 7.

Over Christmas some places keep short hours. Siida, the Sámi museum and nature centre in Inari, opens from 10:00 to 14:00 on 24 December and from 12:00 to 17:00 on 25 December. Visitors from Germany get a new connection this winter: Discover Airlines flies from Munich to Ivalo once a week on Wednesdays, from 23 December 2026 to 24 March 2027.

The evening sled ride by Lapponia Tours starts at its safari house at Honkapolku 1 in Saariselkä and lasts about two and a half hours, with a hot drink by the fire. Thermal clothing is lent. Children under 7 cannot join, and flashlights are not allowed during the tour.

Skábmagovat in January

Every January, Inari hosts Skábmagovat, the Indigenous Peoples' Film Festival. In 2026 it ran from 22 to 25 January. One of its venues is the Snow Theatre, an open-air cinema built entirely of snow.

The organisers had not announced the 2027 dates by mid-October 2026, and the festival homepage still showed an older year in its header. If you want to plan around it, check skabmagovat.fi before booking flights. By festival time the sun is back: it rises again on 7 January 2027 and stays up for almost three hours by 15 January.

Sámi National Day on 6 February

Sámi National Day falls on 6 February. It recalls the first Sámi national meeting, held in Trondheim in 1917, and was celebrated for the first time in 1993. In the municipality of Inari almost a third of the residents are Sámi, and three Sámi languages are used officially next to Finnish. Our page on reindeer and Sámi culture explains what the Sámi Parliament asks of visitors.

Reindeer races on Lake Inari

The reindeer races on Lake Inari have been held for more than 70 years. The Poro Cup is a series of five races over the late winter, and it ends with the Reindeer Championship, known in Finnish as Porokuninkuusajot, on the frozen surface of Lake Inari. The final is traditionally held in Inari. In 2024 it fell on the weekend of 23 and 24 March, and in 2022 the 70th races took place at the end of March.

The date of the 2027 final has not been published yet. In 2026 one of the qualifying races was held in Utsjoki on 28 February and 1 March, which gives a rough idea of the season. Treat late March or early April as a guide and confirm the date with the organisers once it is out.

On non-race days, Inari is still worth the trip from Saariselkä. Trafinari collects small groups of up to six in Saariselkä, Ivalo or Inari for a seven-hour day that includes the Siida ticket and a campfire snack at the Jäniskoski rapids. Lunch is at your own cost. More on the village is on our page about Inari and Siida.

Spring on the slopes

The ski resort lists its normal rates from 21 November 2026 to 3 April 2027 and off-season rates from 4 April to 2 May 2027. The tourist office calls April a popular month for cross-country skiing, with longer days, milder temperatures and good spring conditions. On 1 April 2027 the sun is up from 06:20 to 20:11. No further spring events for 2027 had been listed by mid-October. The regional event calendar of Lapland North Destinations is the place to check for later additions.