Sønderthon 2.0 ends after record-breaking Twitch event

Rasmus Søndergaard’s 15-day nonstop livestream from Gavnø Castle has ended, leaving two devoted young viewers feeling a sense of loss, DR reports.

Hamudi Al-Atat and Freya Vejlstrup, both 18-year-old high school students, visited the castle several times during the event. They watched Sønderthon 2.0 for about 10 hours a day, following everything from celebrity arrivals by helicopter to an ultrarunning event and a competition to stay on a raft the longest.

The livestream ran around the clock on Twitch from 13 October until Sunday. Gavnø Castle is on the island of Gavnø in Karrebæk Fjord, near Næstved. The event featured a butler serving morning tea and guests including Christopher, Lukas Graham and Mads Steffensen arriving by helicopter before travelling to the castle by golf cart.

On Wednesday, Søndergaard became Twitch’s most-subscribed streamer in the world, with 131,000 paid subscriptions. Within its first 24 hours, the broadcast also set a Danish viewing record on the platform, attracting 83,000 viewers and surpassing his own record from the first Sønderthon.

Viewers drawn to the live format

Al-Atat said Søndergaard’s rise from streaming in an apartment to becoming the world’s top streamer was inspiring. Vejlstrup said she valued the unscripted nature of the broadcast, where events were live and did not have to be perfect.

She also praised the event for addressing serious subjects. Søndergaard raised more than two million kroner for the Danish Cancer Society and, with fellow online creator Loke Lund, drew attention to anorexia. Vejlstrup said she appreciated that people had been able to open up and cry on stream.

Controversies and local attention

Emil Ludvigsen, a senior consultant at the Center for Digital Youth Care who focuses on gaming and online communities, said the event showed Twitch could bring together people of different ages and interests. But he noted that nonstop broadcasting for 15 days could also lead to disputes, inappropriate chat comments and accusations.

One controversy began before the event. The Danish Consumer Council, Forbrugerrådet Tænk, complained to the Consumer Ombudsman about Søndergaard’s promotion of Red Bull energy drinks, arguing that a significant part of his audience was under 18. Under Denmark’s Marketing Practices Act, energy drinks are considered unsuitable for children and young people and cannot be marketed to consumers under 18. Søndergaard disputed the complaint, saying it assumed his content was aimed at under-18s, which he said it was not.

Martin HH Bender of Visit Sydsjælland said Gavnø Castle became a central part of the event and that the broadcast may have helped draw attention to the area. The organisation plans to use the event in its communications with young people and potential Danish tourists.

For Al-Atat, the end of the stream has brought what he called “Sønderthon blues”. “It feels like finishing a really good series,” he said.