December 18, 2014 (Falun, Sweden) – The signs are good that Falun 2015 will be a fantastic ski festival. Today, there are two months remaining until the opening ceremony and more than 100 000 tickets have been sold or booked for the winter’s top highlight event.

“We have sold more tickets than what we expected by this point, which makes us happy. Many consider the Falun 2015 tickets as a perfect Christmas present,” said Sven von Holst, CEO of Falun 2015.

Snow cannons are blowing at full force at the Lugnet national arena in Falun. The length of available cross-country courses is increasing steadily and both jumping hills will be covered with snow before the World Championships, which will see their official opening on 18th February 2015. Increasing ticket sales is another obvious sign that the winter’s biggest event is approaching rapidly. More than 100 000 tickets have been sold or booked for the 11 competition days.

“Our goal is to sell 200 000 tickets for the competition days at Falun 2015. It’s great news for us that we’re already halfway there,” said von Holst.

Ticket sales grew visibly when the FIS World Cup season began some two weeks ago. But von Holst believes there is another reason for the increased demand for tickets.

“Many are buying tickets as Christmas presents for their loved ones. It’s a unique event happening on home snow and it is easy to buy tickets via our online store or in tourist offices in Dalarna. The recent discussion on the World Championships beanies has also helped the sales,” he said.

There will be competitions in Cross-Country Skiing, Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined in Falun already in January. Those events will be a final test for Falun 2015 and other involved parties. Many top athletes from Sweden and Norway, among others, are expected to compete in Falun to test the courses and hills. The current lack of snow in the region of Falun is not a concern for the Falun 2015 Organisers.

“From our perspective, the situation is perfect: the ground is frozen and it is cold enough to produce snow. Since man-made snow is more durable than natural snow, we will use that as the base before natural snow falls. In total we will use 12 kilometres of courses at Falun 2015. With all snow cannons in operation, it takes about a week to make the snow required for the World Championships courses and jumping hills,” said von Holst.

For more info about the Falun 2015 Nordic World Championships, visit www.falun2015.com