The Oslo-based Nobel Committee is announcing the forced changes in the scheduled ceremony. Peace Prize will be hold in a dramatically pared-down version of its annual award ceremony this year. The non-stop virus pandemic will allow only about 100 guests to attend, Bloomberg has learned.
The Nobel Prize Committee (NPC) has not only scaled back Peace Prize ceremony but cancelled the traditional banquet that has always been a fixture of the annual event. Taking into account the ongoing health crisis, Committee has contingency plans in place should the laureate only be able to attend virtually.
The ceremony scheduled for December 10, the event marks the day that Alfred Nobel died in 1896, will be moved from Oslo City Hall to a smaller venue at the University of Oslo. About 100 guests will be allowed to attend, compared with the roughly 1,000 that have normally been invited.
In 2020, peace prize will be announced on October 9. The peace award, along with prizes in literature, physics and medicine, was first handed out in 1901.
Under current circumstances, the NPC welcomes to watch the live stream of the announcements. The website says that they are starting with the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday 5 October, 11:30 CEST at the earliest.
Nobel Prize ceremony has a long history
The Prize Award Ceremony in Stockholm has, almost without exception, taken place at the Stockholm Concert Hall (Stockholms Konserthus) since 1926. In Oslo, the ceremony was for many years held at the Nobel Institute. From 1947 till 1990, the setting was the auditorium of the University of Oslo. In 1990 the event moved to the Oslo City Hall.
The Nobel Festivities in Stockholm are arranged by the Nobel Foundation and are primarily an academic celebration focusing on science and literature. In addition to the Nobel Laureates and their families, Their Majesties the King and Queen and other members of the Royal Family of Sweden are guests of honour at both the Prize Award Ceremony and the Banquet.
