Students from around Stockholm and beyond came together last weekend for Northern Europe’s largest annual student event – Squvalp!
Squvalp is a weekend-long rafting event organised by the Quarnevalen team. Every year they put together huge events for students. Some years this takes the form of a carnival through the city, but this year the was parade was on water. Student carnivals and rafting events are a long running tradition in Stockholm, so the students organising them have a passion handed down for many generations.
The first event was the building on Friday. The sun came out and the building site was its own carnival. There were games, food, beers and hundreds of students gathered in more than sixty groups to construct floats. It’s easy to underestimate how difficult it can be to actually put a raft together, but as long as you have a big, enthusiastic team, it’s a lot of fun.
On Saturday, after some final building and decorating, the moment of floating (or for many teams, the moment of sinking) arrived. This was the highlight of the weekend.
Since the afterparty was in a secret location, we had to complete a treasure hunt across the city to find it. This led us, eventually, to the large hall of Fryshuset in the south of the city. Here, an award show was held to celebrate the best rafts. Food and drinks were served and then the real party began, a full band and DJ playing through the night.
Next year the Quarnevalen will take place once again. This time there will be a week-long building spree outside KTH, followed by a parade through the city. Keep an eye on the Instagram page for more info!
~ Declan