The ABBA Museum Anniversary and the ABBAday 2023

This year, ABBAday was pushed back to May 5, to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the ABBA Museum in Stockholm.

So, in addition to being delayed, it was held in Sweden like 2013. The Museum now has a veranda for events, so we didn't have to travel for the disco that night.

I was not entirely alone, my French and Belgian friends, also in small numbers, were with me and in the end there were about 300 members who were there. Among them Philippe Elan and Renko Van Drongelen (author of the book Frida Beyond ABBA).

The doors of the veranda opened at four in the afternoon and we were received, as should be on an anniversary, with a glass of cava (or two for the smartest).

At five in the afternoon, the Museum choir welcomed us with "I Still Have Faith In You", whose performances improve each time. They are very professional and in my opinion, one day they should do a full concert.

First, A few words of welcome from Helga, the President of the Fanclub.

After it was Ingmarie Halling who told us her memories and made a summary of the changes that the Museum has undergone since its opening.

The choir closed those speeches with "Mamma Mia," a medley, and "Dancing Queen" that was sung by the entire room. Although Owe Sandström (ABBA's clothing designer) was in the room, he did not go up to the podium.

 

 

At six in the evening, they gave us a dish with cold food and a drink and then started karaoke, where we could choose a video with lyrics from ABBA Gold, recently released on YouTube, to sing on the podium.

 

At the same time, with small groups, the preview visit of the new exhibition on ABBA Voyage began. We each had a ticket with the time of entry, having 30 minutes to visit it. Before and/or after we could walk through the rest of the Museum.

The rest of the Museum has not changed since my last visit in 2019. And I was surprised not to find a corner dedicated to the Voyage album. It seems that it is not in the ABBA story yet. The only change is, a new Wall of Fans wall, where a screen shows us photos of past ABBAdays and gifts that fans have brought to the Museum.

I had to enter the exhibition at 8:35 p.m. 

I was lucky enough to meet Svana Gisla, Ludvig Andersson, Görel Hanser and Baillie Walsh who were on the visit and answered our questions.

 

 

Upon entering the room, the first thing we saw was a motion capture suit, used by Benny, to create the ABBAtars. 

Then there are three of the seven costumes worn at the ABBA Voyage concert.

The first designed by Dolce Gabbana, is undoubtedly the most beautiful and you can appreciate every detail of that suit. 

Then comes the one from Dancing Queen.

Then last is the one used in "I Still Have Faith In You", which is totally silver, even though it looks gold in the photos.

A giant screen showed images of the creation of the ABBAtars and comments from Björn and Benny. 

There were also individual screens with commentary from Björn, Benny and others responsible for the concert's conception.

A table showed us the sketches that led to the creation of some of the costumes. 

A corner was dedicated to the ABBA Arena, with a mockup of the venue.

Finally, the platinum record was exposed, which commemorates the two and a half million records sold.

This exhibition will be officially inaugurated on May 7, the actual day of the Museum's anniversary.

At eight in the evening, the Museum's DJ got down to business, so we could dance to ABBA's music along with some other artists related to them. Since many of the guests left after visiting the exhibition, few of us stayed on the veranda.

During all the time the Museum store was opened and also exhibited the new Museum catalog in preview. 

In addition, they had installed a photo booth, so that everyone could be photographed in front of the anniversary wall, and they gave us three photos with the same format twice.

My friends, who had already been in the city for several days, were tired, so they didn't last until the end of the planned disco until one in the morning, so we left without the last dance "The Way Olds Friends Do" at eleven p.m.

When leaving, they offered us a bag with three gifts, the first: a water bottle with the annotation "ABBA Museum 10 Years", the second: a case with 18 postcards and finally: a thank you card from the Museum. I missed an object with the annotation “ABBAday 2023”.

 

The Museum is still a very good attraction for people who come to Stockholm, I love walking through it and being surrounded by fans, music and history. I hope that everyone who wishes to go has the opportunity to do so.

And to ABBA Voyage, another anniversary awaits us in three weeks, this time in London.