SLU news

Traditional walpurgis celebrations in Uppsala cancelled

Published: 20 March 2020

All activities organised as part of the traditional Walpurgis celebrations in Uppsala will be cancelled. The reason for this is the government’s decision, at the request of the Public Health Agency of Sweden, to ban public gatherings and official events of more than 500 people to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

The days before and after 30 April normally see around 150,000 people, many of whom are students and visitors, gather in the centre of Uppsala to take part in the traditional Walpurgis celebrations. There is no single organiser of this event as the programme consists of several individual events with different organisers, as well as spontaneous gatherings. Several organisers cooperate to ensure safe, clean and secure celebrations.

The organisers all agree that they need to do their utmost to prevent the virus from spreading further and limit any activities likely to result in larger gatherings. This means that as the situation stands, the Uppsala Walpurgis celebrations cannot take place. Instead, the organisers encourage other ways of celebrating the arrival of spring.

The following activities will not take place:
• Float race on the River Fyris
• Activities in the Ekonomikum park
• Herring lunch at UKK
• Donning of the caps outside Carolina Rediviva

For the latest information, please see www.valborgiuppsala.se/en/

Facts:

The Walpurgis celebration organisers are Uppsala University, SLU, Uppsala Municipality, Uppsala University Hospital, Region Uppsala, the Police and Destination Uppsala.