Eurovision fans built a sauna and drove it 3,000 km to the grand final

Sheena Goodyear · CBC Radio

· Posted: May 16, 2025 6:12 PM EDT | Last Updated: 6 minutes ago

Robin Nyman's roadworthy travel to the expansive last of the Eurovision Song Contest was little astir the destination, and much astir the friends helium made on the mode successful the sauna attached to the backmost of his car.

Nyman and his friends are supporting Sweden's Eurovision hopeful KAJ and their song Bara Bada Bastu, an upbeat ode to Northern European sauna culture.

So they built a sauna together, past towed it down a 1980s Volvo for astir 3,000 kilometres from Vörå, Finland, to Basel, Switzerland, for the philharmonic contest's last showdown connected Saturday. 

"It's been a beauteous travel afloat of gathering radical on the way," Nyman told As It Happens big Nil Kӧksal.

"The halfway of our task is connecting and gathering bridges to different people, and going into the sauna with strangers and, hopefully, coming retired from the sauna with friends."

The sauna arsenic a large equalizer 

Nyman and his chap KAJ fans — Oa Lönnbäck, Aja Lund, and Tom Tiainen — near Finland earlier this period and drove for 8 days, crossing Stockholm, Copenhagen and Frankfurt to yet parkland their sauna trailer successful Basel connected Thursday.

Before they acceptable out, they posted astir their adventures connected societal media, inviting radical on their way to articulation them successful the sauna, which tin comfortably spot six to 8 people.

When they spoke to CBC Radio connected Monday, they were successful Strande, Germany, with "a caller radical of friends."

"Right now, we are opening the archetypal vessel of vino and sharing a meal together, and I deliberation successful an hr oregon 2 the sauna [will be] hot," Nyaman said.

There's nary amended mode to link with radical than sharing a sauna, Nyman said. 

"First of all, you permission your phones extracurricular due to the fact that it's blistery and steamy. Second of all, you permission your apparel connected the outside," helium said.

"When you conscionable participate a sauna with a towel astir you, it's precise antiauthoritarian and cipher truly cares astir assemblage oregon income oregon history. You conscionable beryllium determination and commencement from zero."

Then, helium says, the vigor kicks in, radical unwind, and the speech starts flowing.

"Some of the astir invaluable and deepest talks successful our lives person really been wrong a sauna."

Some 'awkward' moments

Still, helium admits the travel has had its unsmooth spots — similar erstwhile they stopped by the location of a pistillate successful bluish Sweden who saw them connected Instagram and invited them over. 

"I don't cognize if she had forgot oregon conscionable thought it was amended not to archer her husband," Nyman said. "So, that night, 7 radical and a sauna and immoderate cars rolled up connected their beforehand structure and, yeah, helium didn't cognize astir it. So that was a tad awkward."

But adjacent that was nary lucifer for the calming powerfulness of the sauna, helium says. 

"We benignant of got him into the vigor of the sauna and, aft a while, he relaxed," Nyman said. "The nighttime conscionable was flying really, truly smoothly aft that."

KAJ is representing Sweden, but the 3 set members travel from neighbouring Finland, a state of 5.5 cardinal radical and 3.3 cardinal saunas, wherever they are portion of the Swedish-speaking minority.

At Eurovision, the trio execute their song, Bara Bada Bastu — which astir translates to "Just Take a Sauna" — connected a acceptable styled similar a rustic compartment successful the woods, backed by dancers dressed arsenic lumberjacks oregon successful large achromatic towels.

Band subordinate Kevin Holmström said that the set is delighted to beryllium an ambassador for sauna culture.

"It's a happening I truly endorse," helium said. "It's bully for people. It is bully for me, for some my intelligence and carnal health, and [it's] besides a precise societal event."

KAJ entered Sweden's nationalist Eurovision enactment contention reasoning it mightiness get them immoderate gigs successful Sweden, past unexpectedly won. Now, they are favoured by bookies to triumph the pan-continental euphony contest. 

The Eurovision winner volition beryllium decided by a premix of nationalist voting and points from nationalist juries, and Nyman thinks KAJ has a bully changeable astatine victory.

But if they don't marque it, Nyman says, it's nary sweat disconnected his back. 

"Whether our radical that we are supporting is winning oregon losing, it's not a large deal," helium said. "I deliberation we are each winners successful this unneurotic anyway."