SWEDEN

Featuring SWEDEN

Joy Around the World

Sweden & the Gavle (Yule) Goat

• Since 1966, a 13-meter-tall Yule Goat has been built in the center of Gävle’s Castle Square for the Advent, but this Swedish Christmas tradition has unwittingly led to another “tradition” of sorts – people trying to burn it down. Since 1966 the Goat has been successfully burned down 29 times – the most recent destruction was in 2016.

• If you want to see how the Goat fares this year when it goes up on December 1st, you can follow its progress on the Visit Gävle website through a live video stream.

Number of times the Gavle Goat has been burned down

Gavle Goat height

29

13 Meters

• Weighs 3.6 tons.

• It takes a whole truck full of straw from the local village of Mackmyra to create the goat.

• 1,600 meters of rope is used.

• 12,000 knots are tied.

• 56 five meter straw mats form the straw coat.

• 1,200 meters of Swedish pine create the wooden skeleton.

• 1,000 man-hours of work are needed to build the Gävle Goat.

Gavle Goat is Prone to Fire Attacks

• The Gävle Goat is inaugurated on the first Sunday of Advent every year, in conjunction with the “skyltsöndagen”.

• The Gävle Goat has friends in more than 120 countries around the world who follow him in social media.

• In 2015, 420,000 people visited the Gävle Goat, dressed in a flower coat, when he was on tour in the Chinese twin town of Zhuhai.

• The Gävle Goat has been hit by a cruising car and been subjected to fire and sabotage over the years.

• Staged hacker attacks and kidnappings have also been planned

Check out the other countries for more!

Happy Holidays!