Stjärnornas krog is a beer-bench-filled cantina serving food and drinks from 12-01 each carnival day. Three different bars and live music keep the spirits high. Every two hours, Lundagård returns to take stock, measuring the energy and level of drunkenness through nothing but self-reported honesty.
This article is being continuousely updated.
Friday 19:30
The queue to Stjärnornas krog is temporarily closed due to the area being at full capacity. At the time of writing there are 900 people inside. In total over 3700 visitors have been to the bar. The people near the front of the queue have been standing in line for an hour, but everyone is in good spirits.
Parents with kids inside commend how kind and respectful all the students and guards have been, and advise to bring noise-cancelling headphones for the younger children.
Many inside the area are over 10 units in, and the advice revolves around “discipline, you just have to power through”. Others are using the opportunity creatively: “I’m on antibiotics right now so I can’t drink, but I will ‘drunk text’ my situationship”. Some workers inside are reaching the end of their shift soon, “We have to catch up, at least one unit every 10 minutes”, “competing against each other makes me want to drink more, and gets me past the gag reflex”.
Friday 17:30
The brass band Bonnkapälle is playing. The spirits are high, and the queue is even longer. Around the tables, visitors are building towers out of their empty cans. People are well-behaved, and the feeling is one of “salongsberusad” (tipsy) camaraderie.
Loads of insights are being handed out for free: “we just have to keep motivating each other to drink more”, “alcohol really does help in a heartbreak”, “drink away the tiredness and never stop”.
The band members, some of whom have been travelling from Linköping since 3:00, describe themselves as “very homoerotic, with loads of love”, and a student describes making eye contact with them during the performance as “sensual”. Despite the drinking, parents describe the atmosphere as fun and safe, and say they are happy to be able to bring their kids here.
Friday 15:30
There is a long queue to enter the krog. The guards are praising how polite and civil the crowd has been, but the student body has split into two distinct camps. The first camp believes in pacing themselves now and go hard later. This is particularly popular amongst those working today or at the train tomorrow. The second camp likes to respond with “yes” when being asked how many units they’ve consumed today. They believe in drinking “all day, every day, all weekend”, as described by one student.
Friday 13:30
The area is full, and the ambition is high. The average student is 2-5 units in, and many have already had pre-drinks at home. Three different students we talked to set the goal of consuming 25 units by the end of the night. Many have to work later in the day. Everyone plans to keep it up for the entirety of the weekend.
