|
Nobel Day, December 10, in Stockholm, is a beautiful combination of glitter and intellect, the high point of a week of speeches, conferences and receptions.
For the prizewinners, the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony and Nobel Banquet are the culmination of a stressful but glorious week in Sweden's capital. When the limousines glide to a stop outside the Stockholm Concert Hall, where the prizes are awarded during the afternoon, it marks the beginning of a well-rehearsed ritual where every minute is planned by the Nobel Foundation, which hosts the event.
The audience takes its seats and rises when the Royal Family arrives. Finally the stars of the day's event appear on the stage, which is decorated with flowers and Swedish flags as well as a bust of Alfred Nobel. They have rehearsed the ceremony on the spot the day before, so they know exactly how many steps they should move back after having shaken hands with the king and received their medal and diploma. They receive a generous prize amount too. In the first several years of the 21st century, each prize totalled SEK 10 million (about Dh4.9 million).
On the same day, the Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, capital of Norway, in accordance with the wishes of Alfred Nobel. When he wrote his will concerning the distribution of the prizes, Norway and Sweden were linked in a union, which was dissolved in 1905.
The penguin mountain
Perched above the prizewinners is the penguin mountain comprising members of the academies that selected them. They are usually referred to jokingly as penguins because the men wear white tie and tails, including a black tailcoat, which is mandatory at the festivities and always drives international prizewinners crazy, since it is rare outside the Nordic countries.
The proper attire may seem a bagatelle for people who have made revolutionary discoveries in physics or medicine, but the white tie and tails issue is actually one of the most common problems for those attending the Nobel festivities. The stories about participants' frantic search for white tie and tails are numerous and hilarious. Some foreign guests ask a theatre in their hometown to dig up such attire from their inventory of props.
Others contact the Swedish embassy for help. One Swedish diplomat tells of discreet conversations with a famous prizewinner who wanted to have his white tie and tails tailored in Stockholm. Shoulder width? Waist measurement? Fly with buttons on the right or left?
For women attending the Nobel festivities the problems are somewhat less, but in their case formal attire always means a floor-length gown.
Banquet of banquets
Once the Prize Award Ceremony is over at the Stockholm Concert Hall, the day ends with a large Nobel Banquet at the Stockholm City Hall which in honour of the evening, is decorated festively with torches, candles and flower arrangements. The flowers are an annual gift from the city of San Remo, Italy, where Alfred Nobel died in 1896.
"The Nobel Banquet is the most beautiful party I have ever attended," says a woman who was once invited. "The gowns rustle, the jewels glisten, the champagne bubbles and the whole City Hall is fragrant with candles, flowers and perfume. The party is not at all as rigid as I thought, but both intimate and magnificent."
Participating in the banquet are no fewer than 1,300 people. All of them sit at elaborately set tables and both their placement and the menu require meticulous planning. Only a few weeks after the year's Prize Award Ceremony, the Nobel Foundation begins to think about the menu and the entertainment for the next Nobel Banquet.
What performers should be contacted? What theme should the banquet have? The kitchen relies on some of Sweden's best chefs, who have a chance to mobilise all their experience and imagination when 1,300 guests are to be served an appetizer, main dish, dessert and exclusive wines.
So who gets to attend? Only a few people are automatically included. Each prizewinner is entitled to bring along 16 guests. Sweden's Royal Family always participates and usually so do the prime minister and other members of the government. The Nobel family is always represented. Otherwise the guest list should reflect the cultural and scientific community in Sweden and internationally.
Today the star power of the Nobel Prize is so strong that many people are prepared to do almost anything for a seat at the festivities. It often happens that countries that rarely have a Nobel Prize winner want to send both their head of state and government ministers when their opportunity finally arises. Placing the right people together is a constant headache.
"In the weeks before the banquet, the festivities secretariat of the Nobel Foundation looks like General Staff headquarters during an infantry battle," says one observer who dropped in. "Placement cards are moved around and people are switched in constant reshufflings."
Talking to the public
The prizewinners themselves do not have to think about all the thousands of minor details that arise. They are booked into the Grand Hôtel, right across the water from the Royal Palace. There a special Nobel Desk is available to the guests, and each prizewinner also has a personal Nobel Attaché from the Swedish Foreign Ministry at his or her disposal.
The only service required of the new prizewinner in return for all this is that he or she should hold a lecture in Stockholm. In Oslo, the Peace Prize winner speaks at the actual Award Ceremony. In Stockholm, the Nobel lectures are held separately and are open to the public and are thus highly appreciated ? for most Swedes this is the only chance to see and hear a Nobel Laureate in real life.
After the Nobel festivities, the prizewinners can experience a special Swedish winter breakfast. In the deep early morning darkness of December 13, they are treated to coffee by St. Lucia and her singing companions. All of Sweden celebrates Lucia Day, with a young girl leading a procession of singers clad in all-white outfits, with a crown of lighted candles on her head. It serves as an exotic ending to a Nobel Week that has changed the lives of the prizewinners forever. This article was originally published on Sweden.se - the Official Gateway to Sweden.
|
