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An Anonymous Coward writes:

https://www.marketplace.org/2018/09/07/world/worlds-unlikely-capital-heavy-metal [marketplace.org]

More than that — could they find the city in the country with the highest concentration of heavy metal bands? Could it be a contest where cities were ranked on how metal they are?

So, they sent an email to, of all places, the Finnish government.

"They sent us an email like, 'Would you be interested in this?' and we said 'Of course'," said Meira Pappi, a country branding specialist for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Finland. A contest to find the world's heavy metal epicenter? A perfect opportunity to promote Finnish culture and boost tourism. An investment of $47,000 from the government and local cities allowed them to build a website, make merchandise and promote their national quest to find the city with most metal bands per capita. A city to crown the Capital of Metal.

Lemi, a municipality with just 3,000 residents, emerged as that place because it had 13 metal bands.

Original Submission