Copyright Swedish Tourism
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Lucia Concert
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When:
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15 - 16 Dec 2007 (annual)
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Where:
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Stockholm Globe Arena
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| Costs: |
SKr195-SKr210
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| Opening Hours: |
15 Dec 4pm; 16 Dec 12pm & 4pm
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Stockholm's Globe Arena stages concerts and processions of children in white, celebrating Santa Lucia Day. During this annual celebration, 7000 candles are used up during the three concerts and the rehearsal, along with about two kilometres of red lace (adorning the girls in the procession).
Catholic Saint Lucia suffered martyrdom in Syracuse in Sicily on December 13, in 304. She is the patron saint of the visually handicapped. The name Lucia origins from the Latin word lux, meaning light. According to Swedish folk tradition Lucia night was the longest night of the year and therefore needed more lights. Some even thought the light would scare off evil spirits.
The custom of a girl dressed in white, wearing a crown with candles on her head, may have originated in Germany in the 16th or 17th century. The fashion in which Lucia is celebrated today spread throughout Sweden in 1927, as local paper Stockholms Tidningen started selecting a Lucia each year.
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