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WHAT'S ON IN SWEDEN

COMEDY

Five fun events to make you laugh in Sweden

Swedes are a surprisingly fun, as well as funny, bunch. Here are five events we hope will put a smile on your face this week as well as our regular interactive calendar of all the top events around Sweden.

Published: 3 September 2015 07:00 CEST
Updated: 3 September 2015 15:00 CEST
Five fun events to make you laugh in Sweden
The circus is coming to town. Photo: Mats Bäcker/Underart/Cirkus Cirkör

1. Lund Comedy Festival

Inspired by Edinburgh's world-famous Fringe humour festival, the old university town of Lund in southern Sweden has lined up a series of international and homegrown stand-up comedian for this year's festival which runs until September 5th.

Some of the top names include US expat Greg Poehler (the man behind hit sitcom 'Welcome to Sweden'), British funnyman Bill Bailey and award-winning comedian Bridget Christie with her tongue-in-cheek feminist show 'An ungrateful woman'. Audiences will also be able to see Malmö-based US performer Steven Karwoski make his Lund stage debut after volunteering at the festival since 2013.


US comedian Greg Poehler. Photo: Nora Lorek/TT

2. Lost in Translation

Lost in Translation, an improvised performance that explores what it is like to be an expat in Sweden is returning to Boulevardteatern in Stockholm for its fifth season. The Local laughed so hard our stomach muscles ached when we checked it out at the start of the year.

The team behind the show have just launched a social media campaign to get US comedy actor Will Ferrell – who is married to a Swede and owns a summer house in Gnesta south of Stockholm – to come to the capital and perform on stage with them. 

3. Cirkus Cirkör

Internationally recognized Swedish circus group Cirkus Cirkör's show 'Underart' is set for Vara in central Sweden on Thursday evening before going on an international tour. In a contemplative, yet surprisingly humourous way, it tells the story of the director himself – Olle Strandberg – and his way back to the circus stage after breaking his neck in a four-metre fall nine years ago.

Told through music and movement, the performance, which has received rave reviews, mixes comedy and tragedy in typical Swedish melancholic spirit. Cirkus Cirkör describes the acrobatic show on its website: “Inspired by their own and each other's crash landings the artists find new, joyful and unexpected ways to explore failure.”

If you're based in Stockholm, don't forget to snap up tickets for one of the group's other shows, 'Wear it Like a Crown', at Södra Teatern which opened on September 2nd.

4. The Color Run

A rainbow of colours is set to explode in the central Swedish town of Gothenburg on September 5th, when thousands of runners hit the street to take part in The Color Run. Known as the “happiest five kilometre race on the planet”, the technicolour race started in the United States in 2011 and has travelled around the world since, with more than a hundred global events and a million participants last year.

The Color Run is not timed and there are only two rules: you must wear white when you turn up at the starting line and not be afraid to have your outfit ruined, as colour powder paint is thrown at participants as they run past. It's a great opportunity to giggle at how ridiculous you and your friends look after the race. The event will also head to Stockholm next week. 


The Color Run in Lund. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

5. Trainwreck

Director Judd Apatow's romantic comedy 'Trainwreck' is still showing in Swedish cinemas this week. Starring the hilarious Amy Schumer (who wrote the script) and Bill Hader the film tells the story of a city-dwelling romantic misfit who just can't seem to get it together.

Schumer – who performed at Stockholm's Comedy Festival all the way back in 2010 – and her brand of modern feminist comedy has been a huge hit in Sweden. To find out what everyone is talking about, just check the listings at your nearest cinema. 


Actress Amy Schumer. Photo: Rebecca Cabage/Invision/AP

Looking for more things to do in Sweden? Check out our interactive guide below.

 

 

 

 

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EVENTS

How Cologne is preparing for the start of Carnival on Friday

Dressing up, singing, and drinking: On Friday, countless Jecken (revelers) in Cologne will once again celebrate the start of the Carnival session.

Published: 9 November 2022 10:29 CET
How Cologne is preparing for the start of Carnival on Friday

Dubbed Germany’s “fifth season” by locals, the event starts every year on November 11th at 11:11 am, and typically stretches into February or March, when colourful parades spill into the streets.

Carnival stronghold Cologne in particular is preparing for the onslaught of tens of thousands of people who will flock to its Altstadt (old town), and especially to the student quarter, starting early Friday morning. 

READ ALSO: 10 unmissable events in Germany this November

“Far too many people want to celebrate in far too small a space,” city director Andrea Blome told DPA. “We can’t stop anyone from coming to Cologne now.” 

More security this year

In the popular Kwartier Latäng student quarter, there have been regular bouts of drinking by young partygoers in the past, who crowded into a confined space, leaving litter everywhere and publicly peeing on the corners of buildings. 

Google Maps shows the location of the so-called Kwartier Latäng part of Cologne.

But with a new security plan, the city and police hope to keep the situation under control.

Several checkpoints and road closures have been set up to secure the safety of the revelers and relieve the burden on worried residents, according to Blome. Visitors will only be able to enter the closed-off area around Zülpicher Straße via a single access point. 

On Friday, Cologne is also set to send a total of 150 employees from the Ordnungsamt (public order office) onto the streets, who will be supported by 520 private security guards. 

A glass ban will again apply in the celebration zones, and several hundred toilets will be set up at the hotspots, “which nevertheless will probably not be used by all visitors,” Blome predicted.

READ ALSO: 10 words you need to know at Cologne’s Carnival

Up to 1,100 police officers are expected to be on duty on the day – about 200 fewer than last year, said head of operations Rüdiger Fink. But he expected to keep the situation “under control with a new security plan.”

What to expect

On Cologne’s Heumarkt, there will be a stage program all day with bands such as the Bläck Fööss, the Paveiern and Brings. 

Google Maps shows Cologne’s Heumarkt along the Rhine River.

According to the Willi Ostermann Society, about 10,000 tickets were sold in advance for the event, which will be aired by German WDR for several hours.

Meanwhile, in Düsseldorf, the day will start at 11:11 a.m. with the “Hoppeditz Awakening” in front of City Hall. 

According to a spokesman, the police will be adequately prepared for the start of the season, with a particular focus on the Altstadt, where there will certainly be celebrations.

“But 11.11. is a very different event here in Düsseldorf than in Cologne,” he said, referring to a more orderly start and fewer guests.

READ ALSO: What you need to know about celebrating Carnival in Germany

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