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 9sa国际传媒� Needles, the participants shared a simple goal: to showcase their knitting skills while dancing to heavy metal music in the most outlandish way possible.
sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 ridiculous but itsa国际传媒檚 so much fun,sa国际传媒� said Heather McLaren, an engineering PhD student who travelled from Scotland for a shot at the sa国际传媒渨orld title.sa国际传媒� sa国际传媒漌hen I saw there was a combination of heavy metal and knitting, I thought sa国际传媒榯hatsa国际传媒檚 my niche.sa国际传媒檚a国际传媒�
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.
sa国际传媒淚n Finland itsa国际传媒檚 very dark in the wintertime, so maybe itsa国际传媒檚 in our roots. Wesa国际传媒檙e a bit melancholic, like the rhythm,sa国际传媒� 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 itsa国际传媒檚 similar to other unusual events in Finland, such as world championships in air guitar, swamp soccer, and wife carrying sa国际传媒� Finnish ways of goofing around and making the most of the long summer nights in these northern latitudes.
sa国际传媒淲e have such dark and long winters,sa国际传媒� said Mari Karjalainen, one of the founders of the event. sa国际传媒淭his really gives us lots of time to plan for our short summers and come up with silly ideas.sa国际传媒�
Thursdaysa国际传媒檚 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.
sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 a great release,sa国际传媒� 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 sa国际传媒渒nitting is such a meditative activity but now itsa国际传媒檚 energetic and heart pumping.sa国际传媒�
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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