6th annual Walpurgis Eve on Campus in 2011
Over 7,000 residents of the Umeå region celebrated Walpurgis Eve on Campus at Umeå University in 2011 with song, music, poetry reading and fire breathing. It was the sixth consecutive year for the highly popular Walpurgis Eve on Campus.
One of the reasons why the Walpurgis (”Valborg” in Swedish) celebration on campus has attracted so many people can be that the event has become a tradition for many students and Umeå residents. Another explanation is that there is such a wide selection of things to do in the programme. Visitors are offered various types of entertainment, including choral singing, the “spring speech”, children’s activities, song, market and music.
”An unexpected thing that we had this year were that two skydivers jumped from an airplane and lit the bonfire with torches,” explained Fredrik Andrén, Project Manager for Walpurgis Eve on Campus. ”Since nobody knew that the bonfire lighting would happen like this, the visitors were gladly surprised.
There were children and youngsters that were amazed to see the two skydivers gliding like butterflies and started to point excitedly towards to sky. Many of them had likely never seen a skydiver before.
Several weeks before the Walpurgis celebration, a poetry contest was arranged for the public. Around ten poetry contributions were submitted. A jury then selected the best submittal. The winner was announced at the Walpurgis Eve on Campus celebration. She received flowers and a gift card worth 2,000 Swedish crowns.
A Walpurgis Eve on Campus celebration wouldn’t be complete without its very own choir. The choir sung beautifully on the stage constructed of ice and snow. The bonfire’s flames danced to the music and the wind carried the children’s playfulness, as well as joy, song, music and the smell of spring over the entire town.
Text: Reza Yazdani
Translation: David Meyers
