Is this the greatest holiday tradition in the world?
Maybe, maybe not. But it's definitely entertaining: each year since 1966, the Swedish city of Gävle has erected a gigantic straw sculpture of a goat called the Gävlebocken.
Then a bunch of people do their best to burn it down.
Since that first year, when the local fire department put up the original Gävle goat sculpture, arsonists have managed to burn down the huge sculpture 28 times (last year, the goat burned down in about five minutes - you can see the video right here).
The goat burns in 2001
For 2012, the city of Gävle has hired private security guards to protect the goat, which was already the target of an arson attack this past weekend.
"Someone already tried on Saturday," Wellington Ikuobase, who was elected Gävle Resident of the Year and had the honour of christening this year's goat, told Sweden's English-language paper 'The Local'.
It sounds like the would-be goat-burners almost achieved their goal: during the unveiling ceremony, event organizer Eje Berglund told the crowd, "the front hoof smells of petrol."
What a great way to kick off another year of waiting to see if the goat will burn.
The aftermath of the December 3, 2005 arson attack
If you'd like to follow along with all the straw goat action, the Gävlebocken has its own Twitter feed and blog.
Here's a representative Tweet from the goat:
I can not really understand!, Last night it was three mysterious men who sneaked around at my legs! What's going on?
— Gävlebocken (@Gavlebocken) December 5, 2012
Related:
@TheStromboShow