Last night, in the Swedish town of Gävle, a 42-foot-tall straw goat that had been constructed for Christmas was set on fire. Gather ’round, children, and I’ll tell you a tale – a tale of whimsy, holiday cheer, and burning hellfire. 0:41 Sweden’s Christmas goat set on fire in annual holiday tradition WATCH ABOVE: Abstract: A giant goat made of wood and straw was lit up in flames as an annual Yuletide tradition in Sweden Sunday. There is a town in Sweden called Gävle that has an annual Christmas tradition of erecting a massive goat in a central square. Last November 2016, the Goat didn’t escape from another shameful attempt: an arsonist destroyed the symbol on its inauguration day, by using petrol. The 2005 attack sparked the biggest wave of inanimate-goat violence in Sweden so far, with half a dozen copycat goat-burnings all over Sweden. For the past several years, however, the tradition of the Gävle Goat has taken an explosive turn. The Yule Goat in Gävle this year, 2020. Credit: Credit: Mats Åstrand, TT Nyhetsbyrån. Between yummy saffron buns and a burning goat, Christmas traditions in Sweden are strong. And every year since 1966, vandals have tried to destroy the goat, creating what has become an annual Christmas ritual of attempting to destroy the straw goat. At this time of year, the residents of Gävle, Sweden have one big question on their minds: Will the goat burn? You're almost done. If I found a good recipe for the dish, I attached the link as well. And so the Burning Goat of Gavle in Sweden is very much art, a celebration, of construction and possible destruction, and life just going on. Unlike last year when it was burned almost instantly. Give me a burning Christmas goat any day. However, most I've spoken to rather prefer it if the goat would at least be left in peace for a few weeks before burning it. In 1966, candles set the holiday goat aflame sparking a yearly tradition. Every year, the town of Gavle, Sweden, builds a 43-foot-tall straw goat as part of their annual Christmas tradition. A giant straw goat erected every year in a Swedish town to mark the festive season has been burned down - again. In Gävle, Sweden, nothing says “Christmas” like the sight of a four-ton straw goat overlooking the town square. Police in the town of Gavle said the 13-metre (43ft) high billy goat … Every year the massive Christmas goat ( # Gävlebocken ) in the Slottstorget square in # Gävle , central Sweden, attracts a media storm with locals dreaming up new ways to protect the 13-metre-high creation. Related Items burning Gavle goat culture European culture Gavle Gavle Goat holiday traditions Sweden Swedish culture Swedish tradition Swedish Yule Goat Mandy Burkholder After a stint in the Swiss Alps, she now resides in Tennessee. Tweets from the goat itself: Not always a merry Christmas. The goat has been built and erected almost every year since 1966, in the main square in the town of Gävle. Every year the city of Gavle, Sweden puts up a huge, Trojan-horse like “Yule Goat” as a sign of the coming Christmas. — Gävlebocken (@Gavlebocken) November 27, 2016 In 1966, a local advertising consultant had the idea of building a colossal straw goat in the style of the traditional Swedish Yule goat (don't ask) in the town square of Gavle, tasking his brother, the chief of the fire department, with its construction. Reminiscent of the Burning Man, towns across Sweden erect a straw goat every Christmas Eve (no relation to the Fins tradition). As it succumbed to the flames, the Gävle Goat … But I shall rise from the ashes and see you next year again! 2 Sweden’s Burning Christmas Goat . The goat has since had a history of being burnt down roughly every … Oh no, such a short amount of time with you my friends. For the 27th year, vandals in Sweden have burned down a giant goat made to symbolize the Christmas spirit. The attack is followed by a string of Yule Goat arsons around Sweden. With the help of some local bigwigs, he made this dream a reality. Gävlebocken, or "the Gavle goat" was burnt to the ground on the 27 of december 2015. Every year the small town of Gävle erects a massive straw goat at Christmas, and every year vandals try to burn the poor creature to the ground. But hell, my taste buds won’t die during the winter. The Gävlebocken ( Gävle Goat) is 13 meters (42.6 feet) high, seven meters long, and weighs 3.6 tonnes. The Goat, as a symbol of the year past and as a symbol of our potential future, both needs to burn and not to burn; we need a Goat for burning and a Goat for yearning. Famous Christmas Goat in Gävle, Sweden did not survive till Christmas... again. I wonder why some people behave this way. The giant goat, made of straw, weighs over 3 tons and is over forty feet tall. Too bad some jerk usually comes along and lights it on fire. Essential Spices for the kitchen Cinnamon … The trial of a 26-year-old man accused of committing the habitual Swedish Christmas crime of burning Gävle's iconic giant Yule Goat to the ground begins today, with the local municipality demanding he coughs up 100,000 kronor ($10,989) in damages. There, and in Sweden, Norway, and Finland, the Yule goat is as much a part of Christmas tradition as Santa Claus or Frosty the Snowman. Every year since 1966, the small town of Gävle in Sweden erects a 40-foot straw goat on the first day of Advent. Burning the goat has been a popular, and illegal, tradition in Gavle since the 1960s when an advertising executive first came up with the idea to endow the city with a giant replica of the goat, a Christmas decoration common in many Swedish homes. In 1966 Stig Gavlén, an advertising consultant living in the eastern Swedish city of Gävle, came up with the idea of adorning the town with a giant yule goat in place of a public Christmas tree. I have waited for over a year for this to happen and it finally did. Thanks for connecting! It takes a whole truck full of straw from the local village of Mackmyra to create the goat… Despite the efforts in order to prevent cases of fire, the Goat has been burned 36 times since the beginning of the tradition. The goat was 13 metres tall, 7 metres long and weighed three tonnes. Connect to your existing Cracked account if you have one or create a new Cracked username. But in the Swedish city of Gavle there is a much bigger battle going on — keeping a 13-metre tall, seven-metre long straw goat from being destroyed. The Gavle Goat — or Gavlebocken as it's called in Swedish — is a large scale model of the Yule Goat, a Christmas symbol dating back to ancient Pagan festivals. 3 Gävle Goat Burning 2013 . This year's Goat was the 47th of its kind erected in the town of Gävle since 1966. Sweden. Don't ask. See the Goat The official website for the town of Gavle in Sweden is www.gavle.se, where there is also a webcam with live pictures of what remains of the goat. Only 12 made it till Christmas. For the past 40 years, the small Swedish town of Gavle has erected a giant straw goat to mark the start of the festive season. Also, there have been a few spectacular attempts to tamper with it, one year some guy planned to steal the goat with a helicopter. The Swedish Yule Goat in Gävle was burnt to the ground last night, only 1 week old. Variously known as a julbock (Sweden), julebukk (Norway), or olkipukki (Finland), today’s Yule goat Christmas decoration is plaited of straw and tied with red ribbons. The goat in 2006 (photograph by Casey Bisson ) 2006 - A drunk man climbs onto the Goat, but it is not burned. Each holiday season, the town of Gävle erects a straw Goat, and each year would-be arsonists attempt to burn it down. Sweden’s famed Yule Goat was set aflame yet again this year in what has become an annual tradition, even though the local authorities are branding the perpetrators as “vandals.”. For dynamic Holiday traditions, Sweden doesn’t disappoint.