Party invasion!

The Student Carnival is upon us!

It is a tradition going back to the beginning of the 20th century that this occurs every 4th year. The amazing thing is that it is run entirely by volunteers – 5000 students that do this just for fun! You might have seen them queuing up to volunteer early this spring. This is a major event in Lund. It will attract visitors from all of Southern Sweden and student from all of Sweden.

Police estimate that close to 500 000 people will be here during the weekend – that is 5 times the population of Lund so it will be crowded. So what is it all about? Well the thing most people come to see is the parade on Saturday and Sunday. It starts at 12 o clock and goes on to 15. People will start lining up from 11 – so be there early to get a good view. The parade is filled with trucks with different scenes – all of them humorously commenting on current event in Sweden or in the World. Sometimes the message can be hard to understand – so concentrate instead on students having fun, being dressed up singing and laughing.Also student bands from all of Sweden will play in the parade – and there are lots of them.

Other things that is going on are the Carnival fair – an area in the middle of town surrounding the University building. Here you can go to listen to music (free concerts all weekend) and visit different tents with different activities – all of them with a humorous twist. If you are lucky enough and have gotten tickets – you can also go to Spexet, Revyn, Circusen or some other main events. Basically shows put on by students with lots of jokes in them.

So what about security? Well it will be crowded, but the atmosphere is very friendly. The aim is that everyone, even small children, should feel welcome and feel safe. There is hardly ever any trouble, but just to be on the safe side the Police are out on force during the weekend.

Also the Students themselves take security quite seriously. There are over 50 doctors and nurses at hand – all of them volunteers. There will also be security guards and fire fighters all over the place. The security detail of the Carnival has even asked for the Student chaplains to be on hand – should anyone need counseling for some reason. So look for the Student Chaplains in their bright green jackets. We will be walking around the Carnival fair from midday to midnight all three days! All in all the Carnival should be the safest place to be this weekend.