Hello from Stockholm!
I know Chris promised you all a blog a day, but we didn’t consider the difficulty we might have arranging wireless, so here is the last 2 days worth of blogs in one conversation as we sit on a big white bed in our tiny but lovely apartment after the first evening of STOFF.
So Chris, write something about the launch of the festival.
Walking up to Kulturhuset (Sweden’s ‘cultural epicentre’, and the hub of the festival) was pretty mind-blowing. It’s an impressive and imposing building of glass and neon, with an ultra realistic sculpture of a girl scaling the front of it – a little alarming at first glance. This was our first impression of the venue and of the festival, and much excitement was brewing. Inside the complimentary drinks were flowing, music blaring, and some weird and wonderful performance interventions breaking out all over the building. We met a few people, had a few drinks and saw a great range of acts. And that was all just in the opening evening – so much more to come!!
Nicki, tell us about your favourite part of tonight.
Arriving at the launch after spending the day exploring the beautiful city of Stockholm, and suddenly feeling part of a really exciting festival. Seeing how many people are also part of it almost shocked me a bit, I hadn’t really imagined how many companies/artists would be here and experiencing everybody gathered together for the first time felt really exciting, especially with a glass of wine that we didn’t have to pay a million pounds for. I know he didn’t ask for a second favourite part but I have to mention the coconut chocolate ball thing I had for breakfast. I don’t know what it was but it was squidgy, delicious, and a much better choice than Chris’s chocolate NO-chips muffin.
Chris, what are your first impressions of Stockholm?
Well, apart from the expense of everything, which I think you’ve covered… It’s a really beautiful city – diverse, alive, relaxed, cultured, green, happy and incredibly picturesque. For the first part of today we just wandered around some different parts of the city centre, and I think we felt really at home here. Although we’ve really only just arrived, and we’re still finding the best places to eat, hang out, drink, shop etc, it already feels like a lovely place to spend time. So every second we get in-between performances to walk around and enjoy our surroundings promises to be as much of a treat as seeing all of the great work. I can’t wait for the rest of the week.
Do you want to wrap it up Nicki?
Yes. Thank you for reading our first blog! We need to rest our tired legs and Chris needs his beauty sleep.
Night night! x
DC
