During the course of the spring, several carnival sections have squeezed their pennies to make ends meet. Before the carnival week, however, the compensation has been doubled.
“Had we known that it ultimately would cost this much, I’d never have agreed to asking carnivalists pay earlier this spring,” says a carnivalist from one of the management groups.
The compensation, which is what the carnivalists get in the form of parties, food, and shirts, etc, has been disbursed three times during the carnival preparations this year. The first period spanned from February 6 to March 15, and ran up to approximately 150,000 SEK. The second period lasted from March 16 to May 5, running up to a total of 472,000 SEK. During the second period, the major entertainment sections received a sum of approximately 14,000 SEK in compensation.
“When the news came out, many of the Entertainment Section Management Groups were incredibly sad. If you measure in hours, the Entertainment Section is the part of the carnival spending more time working than anybody else, says a member of the Management Groups.
Food for 7 SEK per person
With the major entertainment sections being comprised by approximately 80 to 100 carnivalists, with a little more than 20 official work days, including a bevy of peripheral activities, such as food on Carnival Magazine Day, many felt that the compensation was a bit on the scanty side.
“After all, it would be reasonable to have a meal or two considering the 5-6 hours of work every night. We’ve had a budget of about 7 SEK per portion, which has been very tough,” says a Management Group member.
In order to successfully fund the activities, some sections have opted to request a sum of couple of hundred from their carnivalists, in order to make ends meet or to fund section t-shirts.
“I think the obligation to pay is wrong. Personally, I don’t have any financial problems, but many of the ones I know only have their student allowance, and after that, they’re out of cash,” a carnivalist reports.
Finance Manager aware of payments
Joakim Winnerljung, Carnival Finance Manager, is aware of additional payments from the carnivalists to the section.
“It’s up to each section how they use their money, but at boardroom level the aim has always been to give as much compensation as possible. We want to be able to give back as much as possible to the carnivalists,” he says.
The compensation account has disposed of a sum of totally 1,5 million for the 5,000 carnivalists. The size of the disbursed amounts to each section has been calculated based on the number of people active and the number of working hours.
High disbursement amount prior to carnival week
The third compensation period started last week and accounts for a total of 882,000 SEK. The reason for it being a lot higher now during the last week, according to Joakim Winnerljung, stems from the fact that the activities involve much more now, as the end approaches. The disbursed sum could also be higher than estimated, since the sections had been highly efficient in registering their activities to Folkuniversitetet (University Extension Organization) as study circles, and since Carnival Magazine Day went better than expected.
“It’s very unfortunate if the compensation previously has been perceived as too small. When evaluating, we’ll have to discuss the allocations for the different periods. However, I am convinced that many of the sections will have great opportunities to provide food during the final period,” says Joakim Winnerljung.
Sections unprepared
However, for many the third disbursed amount was a big surprise.
“We had been told that there would be about the same as for the second period, but now it turned out to be more than double of the amount. We don’t really know what to do with the money, since we haven’t had the chance to plan anything. I guess we could provide fruit the entire week or arrange a joint dinner party after the carnival,” says a carnivalist from one of the management groups.
Joakim Winnerljung admits that the big portion of the disbursement may have been issued a bit too late.
“It’s something we’ll have to take in to our evaluation,” he says.
Text: Annika Skogar
Translation: Maximilian Aleman-Tennell
