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Usually tens of thousands of people gather to witness the solemn opening of the Gävlebocken at Slottstorget in Gävle. But this year, due to the spread of the virus, the event had to be held digitally. People have been urged to stay away.
– There have been no crowds at all. Some have come and taken letters, but nothing more, says Rebecca Steiner, a spokeswoman for Gävlebocken.
Radio presenter and profile Titti Schultz held the inauguration of the digital dollar on Sunday, visited by, among others, Lars-Åke Wilhelmsson, better known as Babsan, and other local profiles.
Suitable distance
Outside the studio and for the money, the guards were ready to step in to disperse the crowds. Something they didn’t have to do.
Rebecca Steiner hopes curious visitors will continue to keep a suitable distance from Gävlebocken until it is dismantled after New Years.
– This year is special. We don’t want to encourage people to travel here in any way or surround the goat, he says.
The question, however, is whether the goat will survive until the other side of the year. It has a tendency to go up in smoke. Over the years, it has been burned more times than it has been allowed to. In 2005, for example, two people dressed as Santa and a gingerbread man managed to shoot burning arrows at the straw giant. And in 1976 it was wrecked by a rag car.
Guarded 24 hours
But for the past three weekends of Christmas and New Years, the goat has survived unscathed, which is a record. Probably due to the fact that security has been tightened. The Christmas goat is now monitored 24 hours a day with guards and cameras, as well as double fences.
TT: Is there a risk that interest in Gävlebocken will cool if it is left intact year after year?
– We know that the goat became famous for the attacks, but now it is already known and brand. We hope the celebrity continues anyway, says Rebecca Steiner.
Gävlebocken
The goat is made of straw on a wooden frame. It weighs three tons, measures 13 meters high and seven meters long.
The first dollar was built in 1966. It was the advertiser Stig Gavlén and his brother Jörgen who came up with the idea of a large straw dollar to stimulate trade.
The goat has been burned more times than it has been allowed to remain intact. It has been attacked at least seven times.
In 1976, a rag car broke the money and in 2009 the webcams were taken out of order in an attack by hackers, so that those who burned it would not be caught in the image. It was once set on fire by an American visiting Gävle.
On several occasions, those responsible have been arrested and sentenced for the damage. The punishment has been prison and a fine.
This past Christmas and New Years weekend, the goat survived unscathed for the third year in a row, a new record.
Each trestle requires 56 5-meter straw mats, 1,600 meters of yarn, 1,200 linear meters of wood, 50 meters of fabric and 1,000 hours of work.
Facts: Gävle municipality
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