The seminar was attended by more than 45 teachers, young scholars and students. The main objective of the workshop was to identify the main features of frontier nature of the main celebration for the people of Scandinavia, Northern Europe and Russia - Christmas.
According to Professor N. Sharapenkova "celebration is a manifestation of the cultural memory of the people, on the one hand, and the method of preservation and development of ethnic groups on the other. The culture of celebration is a kind of mechanism of preservation of ethnic identity of both the northern peoples of Scandinavia and those of northern Russia. "

Dean of the Faculty of Philology, Professor A. Kunilsky in his report presented an interpretation of "The Possessed" by Dostoevsky. A. Kunilsky tied Christmas with the divine act of birth of an individual. The report really excited audience and triggered a lively discussion.

Talks of other participants of the seminar were devoted to religious, ceremonial, cultural intersections of the Nativity in the European and Russian North. Christmas customs of Scandinavia (Norwegian Nisse and traditions of divination in the Christmas holidays) were highlighted by assistant professor of Scandinavian Philology E. Safron. She introduced the audience to the unique world of Scandinavian folklore. This theme was continued by M. Saveleva. Associate Professor E. Safron as a moderator of this seminar created a witty verbal roll between the reports. Teachers and students of the Faculty of Philology ("Swedish language and literature", "German language and literature") analyzed Christmas images in the works of Ibsen (A. Aleksandrova), E. Hoffmann (A. Sechko) Ch. Dickens (A. Meshkut) J. Teorin, the modern master of the Swedish mystic detective (M. Konovalova). A number of reports were devoted to the traditions of Christmas and New Year during the Great Patriotic War (A. Manohina) and in the southern countries (P.Pere).

Of particular interest was the presentation by a Scandinavian representative, the Swedish lecturer of Scandinavian Philology Arvid Nord. The speaker absorbed the seminar participants in the tradition of celebrating Christmas in Sweden and talked about the indispensable attribute of Christmas, the Christmas dinner. The academic part of the workshop was "lit" by skits: production of "The Legend of the Night Virgin" (script by 3rd year student of "Swedish language and literature" O. Yurchenko, involving 2nd year students of "German language and literature") and an unusual skit in Swedish with special effects, "To Each His Own Christmas" (script by lecturer of Scandinavian Philology E. Grishkevich and 2nd year students of "Swedish language and literature"). The final chord of the two-day seminar was the performance of 1st year students ("Swedish language and literature"), dedicated to the Day of St. Lucia.
The workshop summarized the work of the Department of Philology and Scandinavian Research and Education Center «SCANDICA: cultural convergence", created in the framework of the strategic development of PetrGU. The seminar summed up the work of the center, which included the publication of monographs and textbooks by Professor N. Sharapenkova, Associate Professors E. Safron and O. Abramova, teachers I.Romanovskaya, S. Krivoruchko , E. Grishkevich, Z. Kononova, E. Semenova. In addition, it involved publication of collective monographs by researchers of Scandinavian subjects from other departments of PetrSU (S. Vasileva, I. Mineeva, I. Spiridonova, L. Klyukina) and other universities (NNSU and Novgorod State University), as well as experts from Sweden (Stockholm, Gothenburg). The two days entailed presentations of academic developments of teachers and students, focusing on the theme of Christmas. The topic was not chosen by chance because, traditionally, in December Swedes celebrate Saint Lucy"s Day - one of the most important holidays in Sweden in the run up to Christmas, which is traditionally celebrated at the Department of Scandinavian Philology.

Active participation in the seminar was taken by the students in the so-called "adult section", i.e. along with the teachers. Here, the students were able to apply their theoretical knowledge to immerse themselves in a foreign culture and to relate it with theirs, because in order to love and understand "your own" you also need to know "theirs". "I think the seminar enriched the students’ knowledge of the Nordic countries and their own country. This knowledge will give them the impetus for further study of language and culture, not only Swedish, but also Russian",  thus N. Sharapenkova summed up the seminar.

The seminar was held within the framework of the international forum "Classic University of the transborder space in the North: the strategy of innovative development".