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12 October 2009updated 30 Jun 2021 11:47am

Schnappy schnapps

Forget the Nobel Prize. What about the Swedish drinking song championship?

By Sophie Elmhirst

And so to Sweden, for news of another kind of prize: the Swedish drinking song championship. This year the great trophy has been awarded to Peter Roadson from Skurup for his offering: “The Waiting Song”. But, says Roadson, after questioning about his alcohol intake, he managed to do the whole thing without getting even remotely inebriated. (In the article, there seems to be quite a lot of talk of “snaps” which I eventually worked out was “schnapps”. I’m not sure it should have taken me as long as it did to crack that one, but there it is.)

If your curiosity knows no bounds, visit the Historical Museum of Wines and Spirits and listen to the songs. I only listened to Roadson’s but it was a little piece of pure joy on a Monday afternoon. And generally inciting a lot less controversy than old Barack and his peace prize.

 

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