The Lansjärv bingo day!
Today I'm leaving Jokkmokk for a day in the small town of Lansjärv. I will join my father Kjell and my grandmother Kerstin for an afternoon of car bingo. Yes, really! It has become a summer tradition for me, and I think that this will be the fifth summer in a row that I visit Lansjärv för a game of bingo. Lansjärv is not a big place, even smaller than my home town Porjus. But during the bingo days, it is completely crowded with a great mix of people, both young and old, locals and tourists. I have never won any jackpot, and that doesn't really matter anyway. The best thing with it all is spending time with my grandmother, the bingo trips are always very happy days.
Here is a small panorama photo of the last Lansjärv car bingo of 2004, showing only a part of the completely full football field that serves as a parking lot. Can anyone spot my father and the grandmothers famous VW Jetta?
Comments
Comment from heleny
Time: June 26, 2007, 10:37 am
Have a nice time at car bingo with your family! Maybe you win the jackpot this time.:)
Comment from Andreas
Time: June 26, 2007, 11:28 am
Erwin: It is a regular game with 10 rounds of 90-numbers bingo, with two or three 75-number bonus games added to it. The main difference to traditional hall bingo is that the game takes place outdoors and that the players sit inside the cars, signalling with the horn to tell that they have won!
Comment from Green Hat People
Time: June 26, 2007, 12:25 pm
When I thought I had seen it all, I get presented with car bingo. Seems like it's a popular event.
Comment from Andreas
Time: June 26, 2007, 12:35 pm
There are cash prizes for each round, ranging from $75 and all the way up to around $5.000 for the final round. It adds a lot of excitement to the game. But the social part of the game, to go somewhere else and meet a lot of old friends, is also an important part of it all. I enjoy it, but then again I usually only play one or two times per year - while my grandmother can have four bingo evenings per week in her summer calendar… :)
Comment from Alberto
Time: June 26, 2007, 12:46 pm
I wonder how many cars in prize there are! Everybody could win!
Comment from isecore
Time: June 26, 2007, 1:50 pm
Third car from the left in the front row. It's to the left in the picture, the red car with the lightblue hood.
Comment from Dima Design
Time: June 26, 2007, 7:40 pm
It is perfectly made. It is a pity at us in city such is not present. I would like to play too.
Comment from Andreas
Time: June 27, 2007, 1:46 am
Alberto: No cars are prizes. They are only for transportation of the participants. ;)
isecore: Correct! The red Jetta with the blue hood is almost legendary by now, people recognize it as "that car" whereever it goes.
For the record, we didn't win anything anything this time. But we had a great day, and I'm happy to have kept the tradition alive for yet another summer!
Comment from Dave
Time: June 27, 2007, 4:45 am
Andreas, I'm guessing that one of the reasons the event takes place now is that the sun sets very late in the day right now. I'm guessing you have some light even at 11:00pm every evening? That would late night outdoor bingo very popular. I'd never heard of car bingo before.
Comment from Alberto
Time: June 27, 2007, 11:37 am
Ahem… please excuse the stupid misunderstanding!
Probably I was reading the post so quickly that I mixed the words "CARS" and "CASH"!
Comment from sintra
Time: June 27, 2007, 4:55 pm
Never heard about car bingo before! Is Lansjärv the only town for this? Do people play
car bingo anywhere in the world besides Sweden?! I will google for the answer :) but I just wanted to express my surpise.
Comment from Andreas
Time: June 27, 2007, 5:32 pm
Car bingos are arranged in lots of places in northern Sweden every summer, but the events that is arranged in Lansjärv every summer (usually 4-5 bingo nights spread out over the summer months) are among the largest up here. But now that I think of it, I think the proper term is drive-in bingo… :)
Comment from igor
Time: June 28, 2007, 12:56 pm
how many bingo trips make you in such a way in the yearß
Comment from Torsten Maue
Time: June 28, 2007, 1:01 pm
It sounds like its an interesting event and as it would be a lot of fun. Is this a special event of this city or can it be found somewhere else? Do you know if there is a car bingo somewhere else?
Comment from Timm
Time: June 29, 2007, 8:38 pm
WV Jetta? Isn´t it a VW Jetta? My first car was a blue Jetta from 82…
Comment from Respiro Media
Time: June 30, 2007, 2:37 pm
Andreas, I am one of those persons who doesn't encourage gaming, but I have to tell you that your story is so innocent and "warm" that I can only hope that you and your grandma will have a great time there… :)
Blessings,
Zoltan Sebestyen
RespiroMedia.com
Comment from Andreas
Time: June 30, 2007, 7:48 pm
Timm: Yes, of course it should be VW. Thanks for the correction!
Comment from TorAa
Time: July 5, 2007, 2:07 am
Well, here I learned something new about what's going on in the Nordics.
Great post
Comment from Erwin
Time: June 26, 2007, 9:53 am
I can image that the car bingo is quite similar to the usual bingo but what I can't image is how it works. Does every parking lot has a number? However it really sounds as it would be a lot of fun so enjoy it.