Updated 18.14 | Published 18.13
14-year-old Nina Welin from Gothenburg has been practicing for more than a year.
This weekend, the honorable mission awaits: to breathe life into America’s 250th anniversary celebration in front of thousands of spectators – despite the extreme heat.
– It feels very edgy.
The countdown has begun.
USA turns 250 and invites you to a huge birthday celebration with parades and fireworks shows that make the whole country sparkle in red, white and blue.
In the middle of the party, around 80 people from Gothenburg landed.
One of them is Nina Welin, who plays the piccolo flute in the youth orchestra Göta Lejon and is currently honing the last notes and dance steps on the spot.
First, the troupe will lead the big anniversary parade through Philadelphia on Friday. Then the adventure culminates on the national day itself, the 4th of July, with a parade in Washington DC. Nina has butterflies in her stomach.
– It feels a little surreal, she says.
– I have been waiting for this for two years, and now the day is actually here.
“Marching at the Front”
The Gothenburgers are not just there to play on a small corner – they are the very first in the parade in Philadelphia. Hundreds are expected to participate, with orchestras from all over the United States. But it is thus a Swedish youth orchestra that gets to march at the front of the city where America’s independence once took shape.
The reason is historical. The Swedes have been invited to draw attention to the Swedish connection to the area through the colony of New Sweden, which was founded in the 17th century on the Delaware River.
Hundreds of years later, a 14-year-old from Gothenburg stands ready to play the flute during one of America’s most charged birthday parties ever.
– You are a little nervous before sometimes. But once you start playing, it’s just fun, says Nina.
“Dancing Queen”
Nina has traveled with the orchestra before. But never this far – and never without mum and dad. Between rehearsals there is also time to discover the USA. She looks forward to going to American stores and trying candy.
But first the parades await, where thousands of people are expected to take to the streets.
And the repertoire? Of course the Swedes play Abba. It will be both “Dancing queen” and “Does your mother know”, says Nina.
In Washington, National Day is celebrated under enormous security apparatus. Large parts of the capital are blocked off before President Donald Trump’s speech, and there the parade passes right through the capital, between the historical monuments.
In the evening, an extraordinary fireworks display is expected. Organizers have talked about a show with hundreds of thousands of fireworks.
“Becomes much more tired”
But one thing threatens both parades: extreme heat.
Temperatures are expected to rise to nearly 38 degrees during the parade days. In Philadelphia, the heat has already caused the route to be more than halved.
For the Swedish young people, who are between ten and 29 years old, this means that they must march, play and dance in scorching heat – wearing jackets, tights and hats. The heat can affect playing, says Nina.
– You get much more tired. The risk increases that you feel ill or maybe faint. It’s not great.
But she is prepared with both water and dextrose.
And maybe a little Swedish stubbornness.
– You have to endure.
