Armed with needles and a yarn of wool, teams of avid knitters danced Thursday to the deafening sounds of drums beating and guitars slashing at the first-ever Heavy Metal Knitting World Championship in eastern Finland.
With stage names such as Woolfumes, Bunny Bandit and 9B次元官网网址� Needles, the participants shared a simple goal: to showcase their knitting skills while dancing to heavy metal music in the most outlandish way possible.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 ridiculous but itB次元官网网址檚 so much fun,B次元官网网址� said Heather McLaren, an engineering PhD student who travelled from Scotland for a shot at the B次元官网网址渨orld title.B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址漌hen I saw there was a combination of heavy metal and knitting, I thought B次元官网网址榯hatB次元官网网址檚 my niche.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�
The competition took place in a packed square in the small town of Joensuu close to the Russian border. An eclectic group of around 200 people watched the performances, from families with young children and elderly to the less conspicuous heavy metal fans donning leather-jackets and swirling their long hair to the fast-paced rhythm of the music.
A niche musical genre in many countries, heavy metal is more mainstream in Finland, with several bands household names frequently played on the radio. Its popularity grew further in 2006 when the Finnish band Lordi won the Eurovision Song Contest dressed as monsters.
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Today, Finland has the highest number of heavy metal bands per capita in the world with over 50 bands per 100,000 people. Even former U.S. President Barack Obama commented on this rich tradition while welcoming his Finnish counterpart to the White House in 2016.
B次元官网网址淚n Finland itB次元官网网址檚 very dark in the wintertime, so maybe itB次元官网网址檚 in our roots. WeB次元官网网址檙e a bit melancholic, like the rhythm,B次元官网网址� said Mark Pyykkonen, one of three people judging the competition.
While combining heavy metal music with knitting might not seem an obvious match, the organizers say itB次元官网网址檚 similar to other unusual events in Finland, such as world championships in air guitar, swamp soccer, and wife carrying B次元官网网址� Finnish ways of goofing around and making the most of the long summer nights in these northern latitudes.
B次元官网网址淲e have such dark and long winters,B次元官网网址� said Mari Karjalainen, one of the founders of the event. B次元官网网址淭his really gives us lots of time to plan for our short summers and come up with silly ideas.B次元官网网址�
ThursdayB次元官网网址檚 competition saw participants from nine countries, including the United States, Japan, and Russia, put on inspired performances full of theatrics, passion and drama and the jury struggled to agree upon a winner.
Finally, it was a Japanese performance by the five-person Giga Body Metal team that clinched the title with a show featuring crazy sumo wrestlers and a man dressed in a traditional Japanese kimono.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a great release,B次元官网网址� said Elise Schut, a 35-year-old nurse from Michigan who performed with her 71-year-old mother and 64-year-old family friend, Beth Everson, who added that B次元官网网址渒nitting is such a meditative activity but now itB次元官网网址檚 energetic and heart pumping.B次元官网网址�
After the success and fun of this first championship, the organizers announced they would repeat it next summer, adding Heavy Metal Knitting to the already long list of weird and yet hilarious Finland summer gatherings.
David Keyton, The Associated Press
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