Full speed in the Garden

Ramps, garden gnomes and high pavements. Those are some of the obstacles in Pride Garden when Utopia and Stockholm Pride arrange the Battle of the Wheel!

- But first, there will be a wheelchair workshop. Iki Gonzalez Magnusson explains. 

- Participants will learn how to  manage everyday situations in wheelchair, as well as wheelchair riding on the caster wheels for those who want to learn how to show off.

Creative culture for everyone

Iki works for Utopia, a new cultural centre in Gothenburg open for everyone.

- A majority of all events in Gothenburg for people in wheelchairs consist of jive and schlager. And besides, you are constantly surrounded by bad smells since you sit at butt-level, but nobody is really aware of this. In case you don't like jive and schlager, there's really nothing to do. At Utopia we aim to create culture from scratch to give our visitors a better and more thorough experience. As it is now, you seldom get there. People will applaud out of politeness if someone who can't stand up enters the stage. It's quite condescending. We also want to focus on differences in abilities rather than disabilities.

Battle of the Wheel

The wheelchair workshop is difficult and a bit awkward for people who are not used to wheelchairs, but, with some help from Iki, everybody manages to finish the course, even us beginners! In order to finish the course you need learn how to be able to get over doorsteps and pavements, which is trickier than you might expect, but with the right technique it's a piece of cake.

Battle of the Wheel begins to the tunes of "Dirty Dancing" classic "Time of My Life" and attracts an audience that cheers when participants finish the course without major delays.

And the record time? One of Stockholm Pride's volunteers managed to finish the course in 1 minute and 11 seconds.