It stands nearly thirteen meters tall, weighs several tons and is built from straw. Every first Sunday of Advent, residents of Gävle gather to inaugurate the city's famous Christmas goat. But the Gävle Goat (Gävlebocken) is also known for its recurring fate: it has an unfortunate tendency to go up in flames.
Today, the first Sunday of Advent, marks the inauguration of the 59th edition of the Gävle Goat.
The very first Gävle Goat was erected on December 1, 1966, at Slottstorget in the southern part of Gävle, a city in central Sweden. It was then 10 meters tall and weighed three tons.
It's unclear exactly whose idea it was to create a giant straw goat, but according to legend, it was merchants who wanted to attract people to the shops in the southern part of the city during Christmas.
Advertising man Stig Gavlén and Harry Ström, a TV dealer and chairman of the merchants' association, are pointed out as possible originators of the Gävle Goat.
Inga Ivarsson from Hälsingland, whose family owned Edsbyverken which had previously lent the world's largest skis and the world's largest chair to the merchants in the south, is also identified as a possible goat pioneer according to Visit Gävle.
The idea was that the Gävle Goat would be a continuation of the theme "the world's largest straw goat".
The tradition begins...
The very first goat actually burned down as well, something that would prove to be a recurring traditional fate. Already on New Year's Eve it burned down, and the perpetrator was charged with aggravated vandalism.
Despite this, a new goat was erected the following year, and already here it became slightly larger – approximately 12 meters tall, 6.5 meters long and with three-meter-high legs.
For two years the goat was left untouched, but in 1969 it burned again on New Year's Eve – this time the perpetrator was never caught. In 1970 it burned already the night after inauguration. At that point, the southern merchants grew tired of the goat spectacle and discontinued the project.
The goat shrinks
The Vasaskolan natural science association took over the Gävle Goat traditions, but chose to make a significantly smaller goat – only 1.5 meters tall.
This version of the goat was displayed every Advent until 1984, but almost every year it suffered some form of sabotage.
In 1973 it disappeared without a trace but was later found undamaged in a man's backyard. The man was subsequently sentenced to prison for grand theft. 1980 was the only year during the period when the goat was left undamaged.
A celebrity goat
In 1985, they returned to erecting the large straw goat, and the same year the Gävle Goat entered the Guinness Book of Records for the first time. It was then measured at 12.5 meters.
Since 1986, both the large and small goats have been erected every year, and it was also at this time – in the mid-1980s – that the term "Gävlebocken" (the Gävle Goat) began to be used.
In 1991, the goat was significantly commercialized. It was equipped with a sleigh loaded with packages and used to advertise various shops and goods. However, the sleigh was criticized for being an illegal construction, and after some debate it was removed.
During the 1990s, the goat was rebuilt on one occasion after burning down, this time under the name Hälsingebocken (the Hälsingland Goat). It was transported to Stockholm to draw attention to the closure of the Hälsinge Regiment and the high unemployment in Gävleborg County.
Sport to burn down the goat
It's unclear exactly when it became a kind of "illegal sport" to burn down the poor straw goat, but in almost all years there have been attempts to achieve the fateful tradition of setting it on fire. Already in the 1990s, camera surveillance was installed, and in the late 1980s its fate appeared on betting odds lists.
In 2014, the odds according to betting site Betway were 1.3 times the money that the goat would be burned and 3 times the money that it would survive Christmas.
Despite protection and flame retardants, there have been quite a few remarkable incidents over the years. In 2004, for example, the Gävle municipality's website was hacked already in November and the message "Burn bockjaevel" appeared on both the website and the webcam. It was then burned on December 21.
The following year, two men – one dressed as Santa Claus and the other as a gingerbread man – shot flaming arrows at the goat, burning it down.
In 2010, the goat was guarded by security guards, and fortunately so – there were plans to kidnap it with a helicopter and take it to Stockholm.
Symbol of Christmas
Several people have been both charged and convicted for the acts against the Gävle Goat over the years. In 2018, the Swedish Court of Appeal ruled that attacking the straw goat constitutes aggravated vandalism. Despite this, attempts to burn down Gävle's Christmas symbol continue.
On the first Sunday of Advent, Gävle residents gather in the city center for the inauguration of the now 59th goat, and the tradition itself has become a symbol of Christmas for many Swedes.
Nowadays, however, the goat no longer stands at Slottstorget but has been moved to Rådhuseplanaden just north of Rådhustorget (City Hall Square).
In 2024, the goat only burned down with the help of AI – a fake image that fooled both foreign bettors and Swedish Christmas lovers. However, there was no real fire, and the goat remained standing throughout Christmas.
During the week, the goat's parts were transported to its place by the square using trucks.
Today, November 30, the Gävle Goat is being inaugurated during a grand spectacle where the city's residents gather for a variety of Christmas activities both during the day and in the evening. The question is whether – or for how long – the goat will stand this year.
If possible, one should probably hurry to Gävle if you want to catch a glimpse of the majestic goat before it perhaps once again burns down to the ground.
