Gävle’s Christmas goat defies fire, again

Hope springs eternal, including in Sweden’s city of Gävle, which has once again built a Christmas goat that is, almost by tradition, destroyed by arsonists before the holiday is over.

The latest version of the goat, called the Gävlebocken, has been a featured display in the town square for 57 years; over that time, it’s been burned to the ground more years than not. In recent years, the goat enjoyed a safe season of four years from 2017 to 2020, but in 2021, almost at the last minute, it was torched. Last year it survived.

This year’s goat is a bit different from previous years because of a warm early summer followed by heavy rains, which resulted in a lighter color, and a shaggier appearance for the goat. But that may not be enough disguise to fool the firebugs.

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