The only ferry route between Britain and Sweden to be discontinued from the end of October.

Danish shipping company DFDS Seaways is to scrap the only passenger ferry route between Sweden and Britain, with the axing of the Gothenburg-Newcastle route at the end of October.

The company said that "a number of factors" were behind the decision, including rising fuel costs and falling passenger numbers.

DFDS has been running ships between Gothenburg and England for decades, with the Newcastle route the last to close. The company had previously also served ports including Harwich and Immingham.

The company said it would still continue to operate routes to England from Norway and Denmark. The company said it was in the process of purchasing the M/S Fjord Norway from rival ferry company Fjord Line, and would run the ship on a Norway-Newcastle route.

DFDS has faced competition from airlines in recent years on its routes between the UK and Sweden's second city. Ryanair has invested in new lines from Gothenburg, and FlyMe has recently introduced new flights to London.

DFDS Seaways' sister company, DFDS Tor Line, will continue to run shceduled freight ships between Gothenburg and several English ports, although these have limited capacity for passengers.

Published: 6th September 2006 15:11 CET
The Local by James Savage

Image by Kjell Holmner, Goteborg & Co.

The 11th Anniversary taking place in Oulu, Finland.

Tomorrow sees the start of the Air Guitar World Championships in Oulu, Finland. Finalists from 11 countries will be competing for the world title.  The event runs along side the Oulu Music Video Festival.

Following qualifying rounds on Thursday 7 September, The Grand Final will take place on Friday 8 September 2006 at Finland’s biggest rock club, Club Teatria.

During competition intervals there will be performances from the Finnish rock bands The Sweatmaster and The Crash!

Besides fame and glory the winner of the Air Guitar World Championships will be awarded a hand-made Flying Finn electric guitar and the Queen guitarist Brian May's donation, a Signature Vox amp.

The evening will be rounded off with the finalists and their fans gathering to play air guitar together for world peace!

For further information visit the Air Guitar World Championships Site, click here.

Image provided with thanks by wgarcia / Wilfrido García Espinosa , Flickr

Televised debate to be in their second language as it is felt they will be less evasive and will keep it simple.

There can’t be many countries where you could persuade four high-level politicians to turn up for a televised election debate in their second language.

But this is Sweden, and Swedish politicians are as keen as the rest of their fellow countrymen to show-off their English skills – as well as to give people who understand English better than Swedish the chance to hear the issues debated.
That’s why on Wednesday evening SVT will be showing Election 2006, a one-hour debate between representatives of the two blocs competing to form Sweden’s next government.

Presenter Keith Foster says that the main aim of the debate is to give immigrants a better understanding of the election, with four leading politicians discussing issues including unemployment and immigrants’ integration in Sweden.

But the programme should be interesting even for people with a grasp of Swedish and for Swedes themselves.

Doing a debate in English makes it harder for politicians to be evasive, Foster says:

“When politicians are asked questions in a foreign language, it’s harder for them to avoid answering.”

"It also keeps the debate at a basic level - you don't have to have a knowledge of Swedish political history to be able to grasp it," he says.

The debate, pre-recorded last week, will also be unusual for only featuring women: the Social Democrats are represented by sustainable development minister Mona Sahlin and foreign aid minister Carin Jämtin, while the Alliance is represented by Centre Party leader Maud Olofsson and the Moderates’ Ewa Björling.

The debate takes place on Wednesday, 6th September, at 9:30 pm on SVT1.

The Local: James Savage

Image by: R Ryan. Stockholm Visitors Board

Finland continues to make preparations for next years Eurovision contest.

Next years Eurovision contest is to be held in Helsinki following the win by the Finnish band Lordi in Athens earlier this year.

The 2007 Eurovision Song Contest is to take place on 10th May (semi-final) and 12th May (final).

Although there was intense competition from various venues throughout Finland, YLE, the Finnish Broadcasting Company, have chosen the Helsinki Arena (Hartwell) as the location for the event due to ease of access and capacity.  Additional facilities will still have to be built at the Arena to accommodate both the contestants and the media.

It is estimated the event will cost 13 million Euros to stage, a cost that will be met by YLE, Finnish government, City of Helsinki and ticket sales. The City of Helsinki has plans to arrange events throughout the city in the week leading up to Eurovision final to help in creating a festival atmosphere.

A definite date for tickets to go on sale has not yet been set but it will probably be during the autumn.

Within Finland there is a great deal of interest as to who will host the event on the night with many TV personalities, actors and pop stars being mentioned. The name of the hosts will be announced in January. You just know that whoever they choose will delight Mr Wogan!

A Finnish Opera Singer in collision with a squirrel!

A squirrel scampered into the bicycle wheel of an unlucky Finnish opera singer, causing him to fall, knock himself out and break his nose just ahead of the world premiere of a new opera.

Esa Ruuttunen was pedalling his way to the Helsinki Opera House last month when the squirrel ran into his spokes.

The singer ended up concussed and in a local hospital, rather than at his rehearsals for the Finnish opera Kaarmeen hetki (Hour of the Serpent), which opens on September 15.
"He is not yet singing in rehearsals, but thinks he will be able to perform at the world premiere," Finnish National Opera spokeswoman Heidi Almi told Reuters.

The squirrel died in the accident.

Santa will let Finnair do the flying when he visits New Delhi.

Finnish carrier Finnair's soon to be introduced non-stop flights between Helsinki and New Delhi would be accompanied by some happy chortling, with the airline planning to fly Santa Claus from the Arctic Circle to the tropics to promote the service.

The Finnish Santa Claus, who lives above the Arctic Circle in Lapland region and each year receives over 11 million letters from believers across the world, including India, would visit New Delhi shortly after the inaugural flight on October 30.

"It (Santa's visit) will be part of the promotional campaign," Finnair President and CEO Jukka Hienonen said.
Finland already considers Santa Claus as its most important PR person who receives loads of visitors at his home in Rovaniemi in Lapland.

In fact, a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis by the Finnish Tourist Board lists Santa as Finland's unique selling point, besides the country's serene environment.
Santa Claus, who has his own post office in Finland, will take part in the official opening of the airline's services in New Delhi on November nine and will also visit kindergartens and some hospitals in the Indian Capital.

Finnair, more than 40 per cent of whose business is already Asia related, is betting big on the direct India service, which would be scaled up to five a week by summer 2007 from the initial three flights.

For more information about meeting Santa in Lapland this Christmas click here.

August temperatures near record levels

The month of August crowned what has been a phenomenally warm summer in Finland. In the southern and western parts of the country as well as in Lapland, August was the warmest month of the whole season.

In a long-term comparison, the August temperatures came very close to the all-time record levels from 2002 and 1937. 
Apart from the very north of Lapland, the summer's mean temperatures in the entire country ranged between 15 and 18 degrees Celsius. This is a couple of degrees above the 1971-2000 average.

     
In many areas the number of days when the mercury climbed above +25 Celsius was double the norm. 
The most "officially hot" days, 37 in all, were recorded in the municipality of Suomusjärvi in the province of Western Finland. The summer's highest temperature, +32.1 Celsius was measured in Lammi in Southern Finland.
     

The summer of 2006 was exceptionally dry. Helsinki's Kaisaniemi received only 34 millimetres of precipitation this summer. Comparisons with measurements taken since 1845 reveal that this was the lowest reading ever. The previous record, 47 millimetres, was from 1868. 

The capital area as a whole, as well as the Gulf of Bothnia, the northern arm of the Baltic Sea, received less than 60 millimetres of precipitation, which is less than a fourth of the long-term average. 

The longest spell of fine weather started in Kauhava on July 14th, lasting for four and a half weeks. The Kemi-Tornio Airport's five-and-a-half-week record from 1969 remains the longest-ever streak of clear skies in Finland. 

Helsinki's Kumpula district, as well as the islands of Utö and Valassaaret, received a record-breaking 1,000 odd hours of sunshine this summer.

As reported in Helsinki Sanomat.

To visit Finland click here.

Chester Zoo launched their Frost Fair with an opportunity to win an amazing holiday to meet Santa in Finnish Lapland.

Anyone ordering tickets to Chester Zoos winter Frost Fair by 31 October 2006 will automatically be entered into a prize draw to win a holiday of a life to for a family of four to meet Santa to with Lapland specialist Emagine. The four day holiday in December will include reindeer rides, husky sled safari and snowmobile safari. The lucky winners will get to meet Santa in his forest cabin as a family and again at a Christmas party.

The Frost Fair will run from 01 December 2006 – 04 February 2007. It includes an outdoor ice rink on which there will be ice discos, family sport and obstacle sessions, and toddler time. Stalls will be featuring local produce, arts, crafts, food and drink. Daily events will include street entertainers, Winter Tails story time in an Ice cabin, a treasure trail and a chance to create zoo-themed winter crafts that you can take home.

For further details about the frost fair click here

If you want further details of visiting Santa with Emagine click here.

Swedish Authorities find a unique way to test driver observation skills!

Swedish authorities are trying to remind drivers of the dangers that lurk in woods along the country's roads.

This week, papier maché elks will be positioned off the road in several places throughout the country in hopes drivers will realize how easy it would be for an elk to walk out from the woods onto the road.

“They could, for example, be placed about 25 meters to 50 meters from the road so that it appears as real as possible,” said Lars Sävberger, spokesman for the project, according to Dagens Nyheter.

Swedish police, SOS Alarm and the Swedish Road Administration are all involved in the week-long project.

After a meeting with an imitation elk, police will stop many drivers and ask them if they saw the animal. Some 9,000 car travelers were stopped during last year’s campaign.

“There is a tendency for many drivers to not pay attention to that which exists on the side of the road,” said Sävberger. “If you did, you could reduce the number of accidents.”

Some 35,000 elk are hit on Swedish roads each year. The program will last until September 3.

First published in The Local, by Adam Ewing.

Image provided by:Håkan Vargas S. / Swedish Travel & Tourism Council

For further deytails on visiting Sweden Click here.