Swedish Christmas goat erected – but how long will it last?

In a ceremony that’s taken place annually since 1966, a huge straw goat was erected on Thursday in Slottstorget Square in Gävle, Sweden, to welcome Christmas to the city.

The Gävle Goat. Image by Casey Bisson / CC BY-SA 2.0

But, in a tradition that’s become almost as famous as the goat itself, Swedish bookies have started taking bets as to how long the Gävlebocken will last, as the Christmas monument has been destroyed a total of 33 times in the past 49 years. During its history, the ill-fated straw animal has been torched, rammed by a car and was even once the subject of a heist involving a helicopter. Read more: thelocal.se