ABBA star could come to Hemsby

HE was a part of one of the world's most famous pop bands, which has sold nearly 370 million records worldwide, spawning such massive hits as Knowing Me, Knowing You, Super Trouper and Dancing Queen.

And later this year ABBA fans could get the chance to meet one of their heroes, Benny Andersson, as he has been invited to appear at Hemsby's first-ever Scandinavian

festival along with his current band Benny Andersson's Orkester.

Marketing guru Simon Middleton, one of the June festival's organisers, is awaiting an answer to his email sent to Mr Andersson's manager asking if the star would like to judge some of the ABBA tribute acts and perform with his band.

“The idea of the festival is to make people aware of the fact that 1,200 years ago Hemsby, in all probability, was settled by Vikings and the Vikings subsequently played a big part in founding Norwich, Ipswich and Thetford.

“Music is going to be a big part of the festival and the traders helping to organise it in Hemsby thought about putting on an ABBA tribute band and then we decided to have an ABBA tribute band competition. I thought, who better to judge it than a former member of ABBA,” Mr Middleton said.

If he accepts, the Swedish singer, who was once engaged to ABBA band mate Anni-Frid Lyngstad, would be the main attraction at the festival showcasing Scandinavian culture and celebrating its links to Hemsby.

Swedish clothing firm Greta Nord, which specialises in Scandinavian fashions, will also have a stall at the festival, from June 18-20, while there will also be Scandinavian arts and crafts stalls.

The centrepiece of the three-day event will be the re-enactments of the Viking invasion and battles, while author Robert Ferguson, who specialises in the Vikings, has also been invited to give a speech.

Mr Middleton and the Hemsby traders organising the festival will visit York's famous Jorvik Viking Festival in February to learn more about staging a festival of that nature and make contacts.