relaxed day for visiting relatives. Finland Christmas is an extensively prepared celebration centering on the family and home, although it has a religious dimension also. The Christmas season starts from December or even in late November, when shops began advertising potential Christmas gifts. Christmas decorations and songs become more prominent as Christmas nears, and children count days to Christmas with Advent calendars. Schools and some other places have the day before Christmas Eve (, December 23) as a holiday, but at the latest on Christmas Eve (, December 24), shops close early and stay closed until December 26. The main Christmas festivities are held on Christmas Eve on December 24, while Christmas Day () and the following day (, 'St. Stephen's Day') are mandatory public holidays in Finland. Schools continue holidays up to the New Year. The Declaration of Christmas Peace has been a tradition in Finland from the Middle Ages every year, except in 1939 due to the Winter War. It is a custom in many towns and cities. The most famous one of these declarations is on the Old Great Square of Turku, the former capital of Finland, at noon on Christmas Eve. It is broadcast on Finnish radio (since 1935) and television, and nowadays also in some foreign countries. The declaration ceremony begins with the hymn (Martin Luther's A Mighty Fortress Is Our God) by a band of the Finnish Navy and a male choir and continues with the Declaration of Christmas Peace read from a parchment roll, in both Finnish and Swedish, the country's two official languages: Tomorrow, God willing, is the most gracious feast of the birth of our Lord and Saviour, and therefore a general Christmas peace is hereby declared, and all persons are directed to observe this holiday with due reverence and otherwise quietly and peacefully to conduct themselves, for whosoever breaks this peace and disturbs the Christmas holiday by any unlawful or improper conduct shall be liable, under aggravating circumstances, to whatever penalty is prescribed by law and decree for each particular offence or misdemeanour. Finally, all citizens are wished a joyous Christmas holiday. The ceremony ends with the Finnish national anthem Maamme and Porilaisten marssi played by the band, with the crowd usually singing when the band plays . Recently, there is also a declaration of Christmas peace for forest animals in many cities and municipalities, so there is no hunting