100 persons from 100 countries participated on world's first international lunar journey

It was just under two weeks ago when Liseberg announced its search for volunteers eager to represent their country on the world's first international moon journey.

The response was enormous – over 2,600 people from various countries applied to participate in the moon trip, writing more or less imaginative reasons why they should represent their country.

100 excited lunar travelers from as many countries were able to make the spectacular journey to the moon last Saturday, accompanied by their relatives and friends, on the roller coaster Luna.

The day began with a flag-waving moon parade for all participants and their families up to the Luna Park area of the amusement park, led by the samba group A Bunda. Outside the entrance to the Luna attraction, Liseberg's PR and communications director, Mårten Westlund, then delivered a multilingual welcome speech.

Then it was time for the main event – the journey to the moon with Luna! Isabelle Fjellsson, 10 years old, and Amira Vikentorp, 10 years old, had been selected to represent Thailand:

- It was fun because it went so fast, and there were so many countries, everyone spoke different languages, says Isabelle.

- Going to the moon was a lot of fun and cool, I want to go back there NOW! says Amira.

Twins Leo and Melvin Barry, 7 years old, representing Canada (their dad is from Edmonton), were both excited after the moon trip on Luna:

Twins Leo and Melvin Barry, 7 years old, represented their father's homeland, Canada, on the world's first international moon journey. Photo: Josefin Hardinger

- Luna was faster today; you could hardly breathe because it went so fast, and we got quite a way towards the moon, say the brothers who, on this special day, appeared in real astronaut suits.

Lunar trips are hot; recently, for example, India succeeded in landing at the moon's south pole, something that has never been done before. Only the USA, the Soviet Union, and China have previously landed a spacecraft on the moon, but with Saturday's lunar journey, Liseberg gave a large number of nations the chance to make a lunar journey:

- It was moving to see so many people come together for a moon trip in one place. We need more of that in these times! says Mårten Westlund, PR and communications manager of Liseberg.

Liseberg's ambition is for all the world's countries to have the opportunity to make a moon trip, so applications for future lunar journeys are still open:

- We want as many countries as possible to have the opportunity, so we will continue to send people to the moon throughout the year. There are still 94 nations that haven't gone yet, concludes Mårten Westlund.