Sweden's papers show sense of humour on April 1st

Carbonated tap water, a sell-off at liquor store monopoly Systembolaget, and and a massive zoo exhibit for earthworms are just a few of the April Fool’s Day highlights from today’s Swedish newspapers.

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Residents in the central Swedish town of Katrineholm will soon have carbonated water gushing from their faucets.

It was thanks to a string of fortunate circumstances that led to Katrineholm being the first to implement the new technology.

“We have found minerals in a gravel ridge which carbonate the water,” said Claes Wislander, consultant and long time head the municipality’s water and sanitation operations, to the Katrineholms-Kuriren newspaper.

Wislander also ensures that the water had a “therapeutic effect” in case anyone is concerned about how it feels to shower in mineral water.

In Norrtälje on Sweden’s east coast, everyone is urged to swing by Systembolget during their lunch hour. On April 1st the liquor store is going to sell off its entire stock.

The reason for the sale is to save time and labour for the store’s upcoming renovation.

And the more alcohol a beverage contains, the bigger the mark down, writes the Norrtelje-Tidning newspaper.

“We think it’s an appropriate pricing model since higher proof drinks take up the most space,” said purchasing manager Jem Arul in a story singed by prominent writer Aprilia Primero.

And how about a 400 square metre addition for earth worms?

That’s what Parken Zoo in the central Swedish town of Eskilstuna is going to offer its visitors, according to the Folket newspaper.

Among other things, visitors will have the chance to witness record long examples of the unusual species Luriensis Aprilicadae.

A few newspapers have cleverly tied their April Fool’s jokes to climate change, including Norrköpings-Tidningar (NT) and Dagens Nyheter (DN).

In NT, readers can learn that a new school rule is set to take effect next autumn which abolishes schools’ February “sport break” (sportlovet).

The reason?

Students in southern parts of the country can’t use the week to engage in classic activities such as skiing and ice skating because winters have become too mild.

Instead, Easter break will be combined with sportlovet, writes NT.

The nearly snow-less winters have also led the owners of Skistar to respond by putting encasing the Hammarbybacken ski hill in Stockholm in glass, if one is to believe the article in DN.

The massive project will cost 2.4 billion ($400 million) and is backed by investors which include the Skistar company Skiing April Ltd.