Maria Lindeberg, a 36-year-old producer and project manager from Hökarängen in southern Stockholm, will compete in the European Seagull Screeching Championship in De Panne, Belgium, on Sunday. The competition is held to promote a positive image of seagulls.
According to multiple reports, participants have 20 seconds on stage, with the jury judging 75% on the screech and 25% on presentation and performance. There is also a children's category and a group category in the championship.
You have 20 seconds on stage. The jury judges 75 percent on the screech and 25 percent on presentation and performance.
Maria Lindeberg first tried imitating seagull sounds at age 14 on rocks at her summer house in Roslagen. According to Dagens Nyheter, she described seagulls as one of her favorite animals, fascinated by animals that live on human waste. She told Svenska Dagbladet that she finds seagulls beautiful and cool, and that they symbolize living freely.
Maria Lindeberg is traveling to De Panne with a team of five people, including producer André Hasselgren and director Karolina Willebrand Vinnberg. According to Dagens Nyheter, she described the competition as an opportunity she couldn't pass up.
Seagulls evoke so many emotions – it's really not a neutral bird. I don't know how many times I've sat with friends and acquaintances and someone has said that I can scream like a seagull, and that I also like seagulls. People think it's a joke.
Sam, a 38-year-old geography teacher from Rochester, Kent, will also take part in the championship. According to BBC News - England, Sam was inspired to enter by his love of the book 'Playing the Moldovans at Tennis' by Tony Hawks. He has two children aged three and eight, and told BBC News - England that he wants to show his children that you can say yes to opportunities.
Last year's children's category was won by 11-year-old Cooper from Chesterfield, who also won in 2024. Cooper was the guest of honour at the first ever Weston-super-Mare Seagull Screeching Championship last year.
It strains the voice quite a bit so you can't practice too much. The best way is really to go out and listen. At Medborgarplatsen there are always some seagulls.
The exact date of the championship has not been specified beyond Sunday, and the total number of participants is unknown. The prize for winning has not been disclosed, and it is unclear whether Maria Lindeberg or Sam have competed in this event before. Maria Lindeberg's specific seagull call has not been revealed.
I discovered that it sounded quite similar and felt that some kind of abstract understanding for each other arose.
I think it's fascinating with that type of animal that lives on human ruin, on what we can't take care of in society. The seagull, the rat and the raccoon, for example, they somehow live on our defeats.
At first it felt silly to go away but then it grew on me and about a year ago I started to get interested.
When else will I have the chance to...
I like experiences, I like saying yes to things. I want to show my kids that you can say yes, you can grasp opportunities.
If you can set yourself a target, you can achieve it.
You only get one shot at life, and this could be one of my biggest regrets, but you don't know until you try.
I think they are beautiful and cool animals. I know not many share that opinion. But when I see a seagull, I stop a little in the stress and what's going on and feel a calm in my body. The seagull for me is a symbol of living freely and doing your own thing.