Valborgmässafton in Uppsala

A view of the economics garden in Uppsala university

There are hardly any public celebrations in Sweden that I know, that does not involve alcohol. No matter what are the origins of the celebrations. On this weekend, once again I have experienced Walpurgis Night (Valborgmässafton) in Sweden. And this time it was different because I went to Uppsala to experience it. By the way this blog is based on my personal experience; the reader perspective on everything I am writing can be different.

About the origins of Walpurgis Night there is a lot of information available on the internet. My experience of it has always been drunken college/ University people running a colorful parade in the center of the cities. Majority of the city gathers to see these parades. After the sun set there is a big bon fire and some fireworks. It is a hard time for the local police, trying to regulate.

In most of the cities the parade is arranged by the local colleges, and the students build some models and acts to show some events and changes that they have experienced during the past year. In some big student towns, it is different.  It is organized by the Universities. Uppsala University organizes this parade in the river. Where the students build boats and run it through the river in the city center. The rector of the Uppsala univeristy raise the cap in a ceremony outside the university's library building where a lot of people come to visit this event. In the morning students normally start by Champagne breakfast and keep on drinking until the next morning. In Chalmers University Gothenburg and Lund University in Lund also arrange similar rallies. But in Uppsala it is the most popular. Here is a short video of the event

Since I was at work, therefore I could not attend the breakfast and the boat rally. But I had enough time to watch the bonfire and the parties in the night. Uppsala’s student union has a lot of sections. These sections are called as Nations and every nation own a huge building have big bars and dance floors. In order to attend the events there, you should either be a student or you can buy a guest card for some price. On this day there are long lines outside each nation. When I arrived in Uppsala in the evening the whole city was trashed. All you can see in the parks were a lot of drunken people and bottles of alcohol everywhere. There were some party buses with loud music in them and people dancing here and there. Here is a picture of the park in Uppsala University.

The sun was about to set, so I went to the Gamla (Old) Uppsala to watch the bonfire. There were a lot of people there. Most of them were the families with children. It was very windy and cold, yet a lot of people came to attend the event. The pile of the wood was really high. After the sunset they lighted up the woods and it was a really big fire.

I left the place to do the dinner with a friend. We went to the city center, it was full of people. There were big lines outside all nations. After the dinner, I was wandering around the city and looking at the people running here and there. I was walking through a street and it was the back side of a nation. The street ended up in a door that was an emergency exit of a dance floor. When I was standing outside the door, thinking of going back, a security guard opened the door from outside and said, what are you doing outside? Come inside. I did not say anything and I was in a nation. Then instead of going home, I was there until 4AM. After that I had to sleep in my car. It was a nice experience. The next day is also a long story. But I must admit that Uppsala is a lively city and everyone should visit Uppsala on Valborgmässafton.