Nobel Banquet

Last updated

Nobel Banquet
Nobelfesten
Panoramic Shot Nobel Banquet 2005.jpg
2005 Nobel Banquet
Genre Banquet
Date(s)10 December
FrequencyAnnual
Venue Blue Hall, Stockholm City Hall
Location(s) Stockholm, Sweden
CountrySweden
Inaugurated10 December 1901 (10 December 1901)

The Nobel Banquet (Swedish : Nobelfesten) is an annual banquet held on 10 December (the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death) in the Blue Hall of Stockholm City Hall, after the Nobel Prize ceremony. [1] [2] At the banquet, for which a formal dress code exists, a multi-course dinner is served and entertainment provided. [3] After the dinner, a dance is held in the Golden Hall. [4] The event is broadcast live on Sveriges Television (SVT) with generally high ratings.

Contents

Overview

The Nobel Banquet, organized by the Nobel Foundation, is a formal dinner held after the Nobel Prize award ceremony and as part of a wider series of events celebrating the Nobel Prize laureates on 10 December (the death anniversary of Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel), with the Nobel lectures and the Nobel Prize Concert occurring prior. Held inside the Blue Hall at Stockholm City Hall, the banquet hosts approximately 1,300 guests. Up to 88 guests of honor (including the laureates and their spouses or partners, together with the Swedish royal family) are seated at the table of honor, [5] located in the middle of the Blue Hall and decorated with flowers provided by the Italian municipality of Sanremo (where Alfred Nobel spent his final years of his life); [6] [7] the other guests sit across multiple tables surrounding the table of honour and throughout the City Hall. During the banquet, artistic interludes called divertissements ( French for 'diversions' / 'entertainments') are performed by Swedish performing arts talent, and can range from music and dance performances to theatrical presentations and (in the case of the 2002 banquet) even circus acts; [8] these performances (and the floral arrangements of the banquet) are connected by a unique theme or narrative that defines the banquet each year. After the banquet proper, guests can dance inside the Golden Hall.

Programme

Guests are welcomed into the Blue Hall and requested to take their seats around 30 minutes before 19:00, when the guests of honour march in procession to an organ and trumpet fanfare. Three minutes after the guests of honour have taken their seats, a toastmaster or toastmadame (a Swedish university/college student) [9] [10] calls for two ceremonial toasts; a toast for the Swedish monarch made by the chairperson of the Nobel Foundation, and a toast made by the monarch in memory of Alfred Nobel. The first divertissement is performed before the starter course is served at around 19:30, with the same for the second divertissement before the main course at about 20:30 to 20:40. Both the first two divertissements are preceded by a four-minute photo opportunity at the table of honour. Two more divertissements follow, with the fourth and final divertissement coinciding with a dessert parade at around 21:45. At about 22:30, students from Swedish universities and colleges assemble with the flags and standards of student unions at the Blue Hall's grand stairway and balustrade, and the toastmaster or toastmadame calls a laureate from each prize category (in the order that Alfred Nobel listed the prizes in his will; namely Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Economics) to the podium for an acceptance speech. A signal is given at around 23:00 for when the guests can rise from the table.

Guest list

The Nobel Banquet accommodates approximately 1,300 guests, including Nobel Prize laureates, each of whom can bring a significant other and up to 14 additional invitees; other attendees include members of the Swedish royal family, members of the Nobel Foundation, politicians, representatives from cultural and commercial organizations associated with the Nobel Prize or related fields, diplomats and ambassadors, select international guests, and other prominent figures in Swedish society invited by the Nobel Foundation. [11] Since 1976, students from Swedish universities and colleges, selected through a ticket raffle limited to student union members, have been seated in the same hall as the guests of honor. [12]

The Swedish royal family maintains a significant presence at the event; the Crown Prince is among the regular guests from the first banquet, and the monarch of Sweden first took part in 1951. [13] Women were first welcomed as guests in 1903, as well as children in 1948. [14] Anniversary banquets held in 1975 (marking the 75th anniversary of the Nobel Foundation), 1991 (the 90th anniversary of the Nobel Prize), and 2001 (the centennial of the Nobel Prize) were attended by all then-living Nobel laureates. [15] The Nobel Foundation maintains a policy of excluding individuals whose values it deems inconsistent with the principles of the Nobel Prize; for example, the leader of the Sweden Democrats has been regularly excluded from the banquet, as have diplomatic representatives of Russia and Belarus following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. [16]

Etiquette

As a highly prestigious event, the Nobel Banquet is considered a prominent display of Swedish etiquette (Swedish: etikett); for example:

Cuisine

Table serving at the 2005 Nobel Banquet. Nobel-banquet-table.jpg
Table serving at the 2005 Nobel Banquet.

Guests at the Nobel Banquet are served a three-course gourmet meal featuring Nordic cuisines, with ingredients sourced from across Sweden. [22] The menu, created by the Stadshuskällaren staff in collaboration with winners of the Swedish Chef of the Year (Swedish: Årets Kock) competition, is kept secret until the banquet begins. [23] The menu does not contain any pork to accommodate guests observing Jewish and Islamic dietary laws; in particular, deer and other game are reserved for the private banquet held by the Royal Court of Sweden on 11 December. [24] However, other menus for guests with certain dietary restrictions, such as vegetarian diets, are served. [25]

In the banquet's early years, the meals were influenced by French cuisine and consisted of more than four courses, with hors d'oeuvres, consommés, and mock turtle soup being the starter courses. The menu was streamlined to the current three-course format in 1945 as the banquet grew in size, although a four-course meal was served at the 1991 Nobel Banquet to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Nobel Prize. [24] The 1976 banquet introduced the Glace Nobel ( French for 'Nobel ice cream'), which would remain as the dessert course through the late 1990s. [26]

History

1958 Nobel Banquet in Stockholm City Hall's Golden Hall Nobel banquet 1958.jpg
1958 Nobel Banquet in Stockholm City Hall's Golden Hall

The Nobel Banquet was first held in 1901 at the Hall of Mirrors inside the Grand Hôtel in Stockholm – a five-course meal for at least 113 [a] male guests. [28] In 1920, two banquets was held; the first at Hasselbacken in June, followed by the second at the Grand Hôtel on 10 December. [29] As the number of guests increased, the banquet moved to Stockholm City Hall, [b] first inside the Golden Hall from 1930 to 1949 and 1951 to 1973, and now in the Blue Hall in 1950 and from 1974 onwards. [31] The 1991 banquet introduced a dedicated tableware service created by Karin Björquist, Gunnar Cyrén, and Ingrid Dessau to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Nobel Prize, and would later win the Excellent Swedish Design award in 1992; that tableware service is still in use today. [32]

Since 1904, the Royal Court of Sweden hosts a private banquet inside Karl XI's Gallery at the Royal Palace of Stockholm on 11 December. [33] [c]

Incidents

During the 1979 banquet, a female student disrupted the entry procession of the guests of honour by performing an impromptu song on the grand staircase of the Blue Hall; she was subsequently removed from the event. In 1981, an unauthorized individual gained access to the staff cloakroom and committed theft, taking clothing and cash. [35]

Cancelations

The Nobel Banquet had faced cancelations or been held in scaled-back form in 1907, the year King Oscar II died; [d] from 1914 to 1919 amid World War I; [37] in 1924, when no laureates were present in Stockholm; [21] from 1939 to 1944 amid World War II; [38] in 1956 following the Hungarian Revolution; [e] and both in 2020 and 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. [40]

Television coverage

The Nobel Banquet is a popular television event in Sweden broadcast by Sveriges Television (SVT), ranking alongside Melodifestivalen, the Eurovision Song Contest, and From All of Us to All of You as among the broadcaster's most-watched programs. Averaging 1.2 million viewers annually in Sweden, the banquet's viewership on SVT often exceeds that of the Nobel Prize award ceremony itself. [41] The televised broadcast combines science and entertainment elements: science content feature interviews with Nobel laureates, pre-recorded reports from their workplaces, and interviews with Swedish researchers and other experts in related fields, and entertainment segments feature discussions about the banquet's menu and culinary preparations, floral arrangements, and the attire and jewelry of female members of the Swedish royal family, as well as the divertissements and dessert parade. [42] The presence of the Swedish royal family is considered a significant factor in the banquet's popularity; [43] a producer has reportedly instructed camera operators to feature images of Queen Silvia at least every 15 minutes to maintain viewer engagement. [44] Comparisons are often drawn between the Nobel Banquet and the Academy Awards, particularly regarding discussions of attendees' attire. [45] A former CEO of the Nobel Foundation's media division, Nobel Media AB, described the Nobel Banquet as the "jewel in the crown." [42]

The Nobel Banquet on television dates back to 1950, six years before the launch of SVT1 and the start of television broadcasts in Sweden, when five minutes of the event were shown to select audiences at two locations: a room within Stockholm's Concert Hall and a cinema. The banquet was first broadcast publicly in 1959, lasting a total of 45 minutes, [41] and the 1994 banquet was the first to be televised in its entirety. Early broadcasts of the banquet primarily focused on entertainment content, with scientific content only becoming more prominent in the late 1980s; this shift coincided with the efforts of the Nobel Foundation and the wider scientific community to exercise greater control over Nobel Prize-related television programming to protect its trademark and intellectual property rights, as well as the growth of cable television in Sweden. In 2007, the banquet was broadcast on commercial broadcaster TV4; that broadcaster was to air the banquet as part of a three-year contract, only to be terminated after that year's Nobel Prize award ceremony was broadcast in censored form in China. [46] The 2008 banquet was the first to be broadcast in high definition. [47]

Public participation

Television broadcasts of the Nobel Banquet have enabled the broader Swedish public to experience the event vicariously. Viewers often dine while watching the broadcast, sometimes replicating courses from the actual banquet menu or adhering to its formal dress code. Beyond private viewings, themed Nobel Banquets are held in various public settings, including schools, restaurants, hotels, care facilities, and other venues; these alternative events have encompassed diverse themes, such as LGBTQIA+ banquets and those designed for children, and some banquets incorporate elements of formal etiquette and dancing. [48]

Stadshuskällaren, a restaurant located in Stockholm City Hall, is unique in offering menus from past Nobel Banquets. Guests dining at Stadshuskällaren are served on the same tableware used at the official Nobel Banquet. [49]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nobel Prize</span> Prizes established by Alfred Nobel in 1895

The Nobel Prizes are five separate prizes awarded to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind, as established by the 1895 will of Swedish chemist, engineer, and industrialist Alfred Nobel, in the year before he died. Prizes were first awarded in 1901 by the Nobel Foundation. Nobel's will indicated that the awards should be granted in the fields of Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace. A sixth prize for Economic Sciences, endowed by Sweden's central bank, Sveriges Riksbank, and first presented in 1969, is also frequently included, as it is also administered by the Nobel Foundation. The Nobel Prizes are widely regarded as the most prestigious awards available in their respective fields.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nobel Prize in Physics</span> One of the five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Alfred Nobel

The Nobel Prize in Physics is an annual award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions to mankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901, the others being the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Physics is traditionally the first award presented in the Nobel Prize ceremony.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine</span> One of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Alfred Nobel

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's 1895 will, are awarded "to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind". Nobel Prizes are awarded in the fields of Physics, Medicine or Physiology, Chemistry, Literature, and Peace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Right Livelihood Award</span> Award for solutions to challenges facing the world

The Right Livelihood Award is an international award to "honour and support those offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today." The prize was established in 1980 by German-Swedish philanthropist Jakob von Uexküll, and is presented annually in early December. An international jury, invited by the five regular Right Livelihood Award board members, decides the awards in such fields as environmental protection, human rights, sustainable development, health, education, and peace. The prize money is shared among the winners, usually numbering four, and is €200,000. Very often one of the four laureates receives an honorary award, which means that the other three share the prize money.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nobel Foundation</span> Private institution managing the finances and administration of the Nobel Prizes

The Nobel Foundation is a private institution founded on 29 June 1900 to manage the finances and administration of the Nobel Prizes. The foundation is based on the last will of Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite.

The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra is a Swedish orchestra based in Stockholm. Its principal venue is the Konserthuset.

<i>Great British Menu</i> British cooking television series

Great British Menu is a BBC television series in which top British chefs compete for the chance to cook one course of a four-course banquet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Hôtel (Stockholm)</span> Building in Stockholm, Sweden

Grand Hôtel is a five-star hotel in Stockholm. It was founded by Jean-François Régis Cadier, a Frenchman, in 1872. The hotel is widely considered to be the best hotel in Stockholm and has hosted every Nobel laureate since 1901.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nobel Prize Museum</span> Museum about Alfred Nobel and the Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prize Museum is located in the former Stock Exchange Building (Börshuset) on the north side of the square Stortorget in Gamla Stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. The Nobel Prize Museum showcases information about the Nobel Prize and Nobel laureates, as well as information about the founder of the prize, Alfred Nobel (1833–1896). The museum's permanent display includes many artifacts donated by Nobel Laureates, presented together with personal life stories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stockholm Junior Water Prize</span>

The international Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP) is a competition that encourages young people's interest in water and environment issues. Beginning in 1995, the award is given annually for an outstanding water project by a young person or a small group of young people at a ceremony held during the World Water Week in Stockholm. The first two years the competition was held on a national level in Sweden. From 1997 onward the competition has been held in its current international format. The international Stockholm Junior Water Prize winner receives a US$15,000 scholarship and a blue crystal sculpture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nobel Prize in Literature</span> Prize established in 1895 by Alfred Nobel

The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning for Literature, is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in the field of literature, produced the most outstanding work in an idealistic direction". Though individual works are sometimes cited as being particularly noteworthy, the award is based on an author's body of work as a whole. The Swedish Academy decides who, if anyone, will receive the prize.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences</span> Award established in 1968 by Sveriges riksbank in memory of Alfred Nobel

The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, officially the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, is an economics award funded by Sveriges Riksbank and administered by the Nobel Foundation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nobel Prize in Chemistry</span> Award established in 1895 by Alfred Nobel

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature, peace, and physiology or medicine. This award is administered by the Nobel Foundation, and awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on proposal of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry which consists of five members elected by the Academy. The award is presented in Stockholm at an annual ceremony on 10 December, the anniversary of Nobel's death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Committee for the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel</span> Prize committee

The Committee for the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel is the prize committee for the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, and fills the same role as the Nobel Committees do for the Nobel Prizes. This means that the committee is responsible for proposing laureates for the prize. The Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel is appointed by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It usually consists of Swedish professors of economics or related subjects who are members of the academy, although the academy in principle could appoint anyone to the committee. Two of the members of the founding committee as well as later members of the committee had also been associated with the Mont Pelerin Society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Hall</span> Banquet hall within Stockholms city hall

The Blue Hall is the main hall of the Stockholm City Hall best known as the banquet hall for the annual Nobel Banquet, and also used for state visits, student balls, jubilees and other large events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hillevi Svedberg</span> Swedish Functionalist architect

Hillevi Svedberg (1910–1990) was an early Swedish female architect whose work was inspired by Functionalism. She is remembered for introducing showers and bathrooms in working-class housing and for her low-cost collective housing developments with children's care centres. One of her most successful buildings was the Yrkeskvinnornas Kollektivhus or YK-House (1939) in Stockholm's Gärdet district which she designed in collaboration with Albin Stark (1885–1960).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1951 Nobel Prize in Literature</span> Award

The 1951 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded the Swedish author Pär Lagerkvist "for the artistic vigour and true independence of mind with which he endeavours in his poetry to find answers to the eternal questions confronting mankind." Lagerkvist is the fourth Swedish recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature after Lagerlöf in 1909, Von Heidenstam in 1916, and Karlfeldt in 1931.

The 2022 Nobel Prizes were awarded by the Nobel Foundation, based in Sweden. Six categories were awarded: Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, Peace, and Economic Sciences. The winners in each category were announced from October 3 to October 10.

References

Notes

  1. ↑ The number of male guests present at the first Nobel Banquet differ; for example, Söderlind mentioned that either 113 or 118 male guests attended. [27]
  2. ↑ The banquet returned to the Grand Hôtel from 1931 to 1933 during the Great Depression, held in the Hall of Mirrors in 1931 and 1932, and in the Winter Garden in 1933. [30]
  3. ↑ In some years, the private banquet was held on 12 December. [34]
  4. ↑ An unofficial banquet would instead be held in honor of Rudyard Kipling, the Laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature of that year. [36]
  5. ↑ A smaller dinner would instead be held inside the Stock Exchange Building in Stockholm. [39]

Citations

  1. ↑ "Nobelfesten – Festen". Stockholm.se. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  2. ↑ "Watch the Nobel Prize Banquet Live from Stockholm". Time. Archived from the original on 13 December 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  3. ↑ "Six things to know about Sweden's poshest dinner". The Local. 9 December 2015. Archived from the original on 30 November 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  4. ↑ "Nobel Banquet: A sumptuous serve for laureates and royals – DW – 08.12.2017". DW.COM. Archived from the original on 24 June 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  5. ↑ Söderlind 2010, p. 183.
  6. ↑ "Första nobelmiddagen för Sveriges nye prins". Svenska Dagbladet. 10 December 2010. Archived from the original on 24 October 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  7. ↑ "Besök Nobels blommor". Dagens Nyheter. Archived from the original on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  8. ↑ "The history of Cirkus Cirkör". cirkor.se. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
  9. ↑ "SSCO och Nobelstiftelsen söker ny toastmaster till Nobel". Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  10. ↑ "Ingenjörens uppdrag: Vara Nobelfestens toastmaster – Ingenjörskarriär". ssco.se. 16 December 2015. Archived from the original on 16 December 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  11. ↑ Ganetz 2016, p. 238.
  12. ↑ Söderlind 2010, p. 160.
  13. ↑ Söderlind 2010, pp. 116, 144–145.
  14. ↑ Söderlind 2010, pp. 117, 144.
  15. ↑ Söderlind 2010, pp. 159, 184, 231.
  16. ↑ Brennan, Eve; Tanno, Sophie; Kennedy, Niamh; Voitovych, Olga (2 September 2023). "Nobel Foundation reverses decision to invite Russia to prize ceremony following backlash". CNN. Retrieved 22 December 2024.
  17. ↑ Hugoson 2012, p. 51.
  18. ↑ "White Tie and Tails". NobelPrize.org. The Dress Code at the Nobel Festivities.
  19. ↑ "Evening Gown". NobelPrize.org. The Dress Code at the Nobel Festivities.
  20. ↑ Ganetz 2018a, p. 1065.
  21. 1 2 Söderlind 2010, p. 125.
  22. ↑ Söderlind 2010, p. xiii.
  23. ↑ Söderlind 2010, p. 281.
  24. 1 2 Söderlind 2010, p. 282.
  25. ↑ Söderlind 2010, p. 211.
  26. ↑ Söderlind 2010, pp. 160, 257, 276.
  27. ↑ Söderlind 2010, pp. xiii, 280.
  28. ↑ Söderlind 2010, p. 116.
  29. ↑ Söderlind 2010, p. 38.
  30. ↑ Söderlind 2010, pp. 134–135.
  31. ↑ Söderlind 2010, pp. 133–134, 138, 144, 158 passim.
  32. ↑ Söderlind 2010, pp. 183, 186.
  33. ↑ Söderlind 2010, p. 117-118.
  34. ↑ Söderlind 2010, pp. 117–118, 124.
  35. ↑ Söderlind 2010, pp. 164, 168.
  36. ↑ Söderlind 2010, p. 119.
  37. ↑ Söderlind 2010, p. 238.
  38. ↑ Söderlind 2010, p. 140.
  39. ↑ Söderlind 2010, p. 147.
  40. ↑ "Nobel prize banquet postponed again in 2021 due to pandemic". Reuters. 23 September 2021. Archived from the original on 10 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  41. 1 2 Ganetz 2016, p. 235.
  42. 1 2 Ganetz 2018b, p. 112.
  43. ↑ Ganetz 2018b, pp. 120–121.
  44. ↑ Ganetz 2018a, p. 1060.
  45. ↑ Ganetz 2016, p. 239.
  46. ↑ Ganetz 2018b, pp. 119–120.
  47. ↑ Sandberg 2009, p. 33.
  48. ↑ Hugoson 2012, pp. 49–52, 58 passim.
  49. ↑ Norman 2017, p. 109.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.