Jun12
Studenten In Stockholm: An Event You Won’t Want To Miss
Late May through early June is a great time to visit Stockholm. If your timing is right, you’ll get to witness the Swedish rite of passage known as Studenten.
In fact, a tour guide here in Sweden’s capital told me that Studenten is one of the highlights on her tours on the rare occasions when she is lucky enough to expose cruise passengers to it.
I’ve seen Studenten several times, and it is pure joy. The event marks graduation from gymnasium (similar to high school in other societies) when Swedish students celebrate, with relentless enthusiasm, the final day of their final year of secondary education.
No doubt this is one of Sweden’s most bizarre and fun-filled traditions. Students wear white, sailor-style caps, a holdover from the 19th century, when students at Uppsala University donned hats that were already popular in Denmark and Germany.
Graduates start the day with a champagne breakfast, singing a traditional song that ends with “Hell, we are so good!”
The students then spend time with their teachers, and around 2 p.m., the students rush out of school to meet their families, who welcome them with flowers and presents.
The family also has prepared a poster featuring an amusing picture of the child from his/her youth. The student carries the poster and waves it during a parade.
Next, the students board something like a parade float. Groups of students actually rent or hire their own floats, flat-bed trucks and the like, or have someone drive them in a car. They are chauffeured around the city while they drink champagne and dance to loud music from a boombox, celebrating just how good they are!
