Planning and executing a banquet for 1,250 guests—broadcast live for hours to viewers across Sweden—requires creativity, deep respect for tradition, and meticulous attention to detail. The Nobel Banquet is an event where everyone involved pushes their limits to create a magical evening in honor of the year’s Nobel Prize laureates.

During the exhibition, which ran from 21 August 2021 to 22 January 2023, visitors were invited behind the scenes of the Nobel Prize banquet.

They could follow the chefs’ creative journey in crafting the iconic banquet dinner, admire dresses that not only made a mark in fashion history but also carried powerful messages about the wearer and the times, and listen to trumpet fanfares and the laureates’ moving acceptance speeches.

Behind the scenes

What goes through the florist’s mind when 25,000 flowers and stems are to transform the Blue Hall into a blooming banquet venue? How do you plan a seating arrangement for 1,250 guests? And what does the special stick used to measure the distance between plates during table setting actually look like?

The exhibition also featured a selection of atmospheric photographs from the banquet by the renowned photographer Anders Petersen.

The reworn dress

Crown Princess Victoria participated in a Nobel Prize event for the first time in 1995. That year, her mother, Queen Silvia, wore a gown by the fashion house Nina Ricci. In 2018, the Crown Princess surprised many by wearing the very same dress on Nobel Day.

It is well known that the Crown Princess often reuses garments—both her own and her mother’s—but this was the first time it had happened in a Nobel Prize context. Follow the journey as the dress is transported from the Royal Palace to be loaned to the museum for the exhibition.