Lunda Carnivals
Lundakarnevalen is the slang term for the carnival that students at the university in Lund, Sweden hold every four years. The official name was Lunds studentkårers karneval until 1996 and has been Lunds studentkårerskarneval since then . The event has parades across the city, but the main activities take place in Lundagård Park . Every move has a motto, which is a guideline for the design of the costumes.
Emergence
Lunda carnivals have their origins in the old student festival customs, when spring was welcomed around the first of May. At that time, the carnival often ran under official names such as "Spring Festival" or "May Festival" and it is not really clear when the carnival emerged as an independent event. Most of the time, the småländska bondbröllopet (Småland peasant wedding) from 1849 is seen as the first real carnival. During this carnival, the members of a student association called Smålands nation marched through the city in the costumes of a traditional peasant wedding in the Swedish province of Småland . This was the first verifiable move with a uniform disguise theme.
Rotation
In the middle of the 19th century, the carnival parades did not have a specific cycle. Sometimes they took place every year, sometimes every other year, and occasionally in autumn. From 1876 the rhythm was changed to every second year and that lasted until 1892. In the last year mentioned, however, the festivities degenerated into an uncontrolled binge, so that the city administration forbade the planned carnival of 1894. This is how the four-year rhythm that is common today was created.
In the 20th century the political situation in the world prevented some events. During the First World War there was no carnival in 1916. In 1932 it was decided to postpone the planned carnival for two years due to the economic crisis. The 1934 move was the only one in that decade as the 1938 Carnival did not take place due to the tense world situation. The Second World War prevented the carnival of 1942. Since 1946 the carnival parades have been carried out regularly again. The 2018 Carnival took place from May 18th to 20th.
Web links
- Official website (English and Swedish)