The spring semester 2018 at Lund University is unlike everything else. You can’t have missed that Lundakarnevalen will be held this Spring. But did you know that Lundakarnevalen is the second largest non-profit co-occurrence event in the world after the Olympics? Or that there are about 5 600 active students who are creating the event? Or that at least 60 couples were created during Lundakarnevalen 2014? You do not want to miss out on possibly meeting your future life partner this spring!
Lundakarnevalen is held every 4th year and are arranged by students at Lunds university. During the carnival Lundagård will be transformed into an area with tents, raffles, farces, different artists and much more. There will also be a parade through Lund City who will spread joy to about 400 000 visitors. And all this will happen between 18-20th of May 2018. To get more information how Lundakarnevalen is build and created Nådiga Lundtan have met with Clara Simonsson who is head of finance in the section Biljonsen this year. Clara also currently studies her third term at the Business and Administration programme here at LUSEM.
Hi Clara! What are the different sections and what do your section do?
There is 33 different sections and one committee with 12 people who were elected in February 2017. All these 12 persons has their own “tree” which includes different sections. The Festmästare for example is an umbrella section for all of Lundakarnevalen’s taverns, which provide visitors with food and beverages during the carnival days, take care of the VIPs and the bunch of Karnevalists who prepare food for all the other volunteers. Even Dansen is a section under Festmästeriet! The one in charge of the entertainments will in lots of different ways make sure to entertain you. You might already have met the big entertainments Barnevalen, Cirkusen, Filmen, Revyn, Shown and Spexet or Smånöjena.Then there is another person in charge of the parade sections that will arrange the parade which is the is the oldest and biggest attraction at Lundakarnevalen. In 2014 almost half a million visitors came to Lund to witness the great, funny and weird floats that were wandering through the streets of Lund. Three great sections are a part of the parade sections: the floats section, Fabriken and Stationen.The biggest sections are The floats section, Dansen and Tältnöjen. The float section is one of the sections that builds the train that will be in the parade, Dansen is the nightclub and Tältnöjen is building tents that will have events during the carnival. In December there was a competition where students could send in ideas for the tents and it can for example be to watch videos or a gallery. Every section also has a management group of 10 people with different responsible areas, for example every section has one “Vierichef” who arrange activities for the Karnevalists during the Spring and another one who is in charge of the finance. How many Karnevalister every section are assigned depends on what they do and how big they are. The big sections like Vagnen and Dansen needs many Karnevalists while the smaller ones has fewer members. My section, Biljonsen, is a new section and we are responsible for all the tickets sales and sponsorships. The section includes 136 karnevalister.
Tell us more about your job at Lundakarnevalen!
I am head of the economy in Biljonsen, so my job is to do the accounting, make sure that the budget is followed, and that the register checks out. Basically, different finance jobs.
Why did you apply to be a part of Lundakarnevalen?
I have previously been active in LundaEkonomerna and left my position in December and I really enjoyed it and it felt a little empty without any commitment. I knew that Karnevalen was happening, but I thought it was too late to apply to anything but then I found a link and decided to apply. Lundakarnevalen is only every 4th year so it was something big to be apart of. Everybody is talking about it so well and I wanted to try something else and meet more people outside of LUSEM so therefor I wanted to engage in Lundakarnevalen.
How much time do you approximately spend on Lundakarnevalen?
As a leading position in a section it is about 15 hours per week, although right now I do not spend that much, maybe 6 hours, but it will probably be more when the carnival is getting closer. As a karnevalist, it depends on which section you work for, but it will not be as much time.
What is your best tips to get the best experience of Lundakarnevalen?
Go all in. If you are attending as a guest, plan so you do not have to do anything else during these three days. You may not experience this again, at least not as a student and I think it is something special to do it with your friends from the University. If you are a karnevalist then go in with an open mind. Go all in, put on stickers on your computers or phones. There are so much opportunities besides your section. Join the sport group or the sauna group or something else. Hype it and sing a lot(!) of carnival songs! Take advantage of the big opportunity to talk to people you do not meet otherwise, since you have a chance to mingle with students from other unions and nations.
How do you think it goes to combine your work with your studies?
I am used to it since I was engaged in LundaEkonomerna, but I put a lot of time and effort on my studies so therefore I think it can be a lot of work at the same time. But you know when everything happens, so you learn to plan your studies. And prioritize, you cannot always go to every party or every hang out with your friends.
What are you most excited about?
Of the events it is probably Dansen or the parade. But I am most excited to see how it all is going to happen. It all feels so distant right now. To see during these three days how 5000 persons will together create a big Carnival. People have been doing this for a year and it feels more real every month that goes by. It is going to be fun to see how it all turns out.
Hopefully you know more about Lundkarnevalen right know and are excited for this big and special spring we have in front of us!
Photos: Josefina Lundh
