NEWS The annual Lucia celebration was held on campus at Umeå University with a performance by the Umeå Student Choir on Friday 12 December. But this year, the festivities had a special “international” element. Franziska Gross, an Erasmus exchange student from Munich, Germany, and soprano in the choir, was chosen to play the main role of Lucia or “Queen of Light."
The bass singers in the choir are given the responsibility of selecting Lucia, and this year they named Franziska Gross. “It is an honour to be Lucia,” said Franziska. “I am only here in Sweden for one year, and I think that the others in the choir thought that I should experience what it’s like to be Lucia.”
St. Lucia Day occurs during the darkest days of the calendar year and is a symbolic entry into the Christmas holiday season. The tradition is highlighted by the Lucia procession in which a girl plays the role of Lucia, or “Light Queen”, dressed in a white robe with a red ribbon around her waist and a crown of live candles in her hair. She is also escorted by similarly dressed girls and boys. A special kind of saffron-flavoured bun called “Lussekatter” is typically eaten on this day, along with glögg, a mulled wine served warm with almonds and raisins.
“I was slightly familiar with the Lucia festivities before I came to Umeå,” continued Franziska. “I studied Swedish and Scandinavian languages in Germany, and learned about the tradition. However, most people in Germany are not aware of the holiday since it’s not celebrated there.”
Franziska Gross told her family in Germany that she was chosen to be this year’s Lucia at the university, and they congratulated her and wished her luck. When asked to name her favourite Lucia song, Franziska responded with the classic Swedish Christmas song “Jul, jul, strålande jul” which translates to Christmas, Christmas, Glorious Christmas.
On Friday December 12, Franziska and her colleagues in the Umeå Student Choir marched and sang around the university. Everything went smoothly in the morning, and the day culminated with a special concert performance in the Aula Nordica auditorium to a full-capacity audience. Traditional Christmas carols and the well-known Neapolitan Sankta Lucia were sung. The event was arranged by Culture on Campus.
Editor: David Meyers/Elin Andersson