Shireroth

The first goat was financed by a man named Harry Ström. On 1966-12-01 a 13 metre (42½ foot) tall, 7 metre (23 ft) long, 3 tonne goat was erected in the square. At the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve, the goat went up in flames.

The goat has since had a history of being burnt down almost every year, 2005 being the 22nd time. The financing for the initial goats came from a group of businessmen known as the Southern Merchants (Söders Köpmän), so named because all their members were located on the southern side of Gavleån ("Gävle creek"), a river that runs through central Gävle dividing the town into north and south. In 1971, the Southern Merchants became so fed up with the continual burning of their goats, that for 15 years they stopped building them and the task was taken up by the Natural Science Club of the School of Vasa. The Natural Science Club's Yule Goat fared no better, and, as well as being burnt and vandalised, one year it was even run over by a car.