Events | Stockholm

Nationaldag (National Day)

Sweden’s National Day became a bank holiday in 2005. It celebrates Gustav Vasa’s election as King of Sweden on 6 June 1523 and the adoption of a new constitution on the same date in 1809. If you want a glimpse of the royal family in their traditional blue-and-yellow folk costumes, visit the open-air Skansen museum, where, since 1916, the King of Sweden has presented flags on this day to representatives of various organizations and charities.

Midsommarafton (Midsummer Eve)

The longest day of the year has been revered in Scandinavia since the days of pagan ritual. Modern Swedes flock to summer cottages and Stockholmers set sail for quiet coves in the archipelago to commemorate this festive feast to fertility. Women and men in traditional dress dance around the flower-decorated maypole. After the dancing and family games a meal of marinated herring is washed down with spiced aquavit. It’s said that if an unmarried girl picks seven different flower types and puts them under her pillow on Midsummer Eve, she will dream of her future husband.

Stockholm Pride Week

Since its birth in 1998, Stockholm Pride Week has grown into one of the city’s largest festivals, and the biggest gay Pride celebration in Scandinavia, with five days of partying, plus debates and entertainment. The heart of the action is the large open space of Tantolunden park on the island of Södermalm. The festival includes art exhibitions, debates, films, parties and, on the Saturday, the big parade.

Christmas markets

Skansen’s Christmas market – one of the biggest in Sweden and dating back to 1903 – is held at weekends throughout December until Christmas Eve (the only day Skansen is closed). Look out for Swedish craft products, traditional Christmas ornaments made of straw, hand-dipped candles, sweets (including polkagris, oversized red and white striped peppermint sticks) and Christmas fare such as smoked sausage, eel, salmon, pepparkakor (gingersnaps), glögg (mulled wine) and saffron buns.

Luciadagen (Lucia Day)

Among the best-known of Sweden’s festivals, Lucia is celebrated in mid-December, in the heart of the winter darkness. The Lutheran Swedes adopted the Sicilian St Lucia because Lucia is connected with lux, the Latin for light. All over Sweden, a procession of singers, dressed in white, full-length chemises with red ribbons around their waists, are led by a woman dressed as Lucia, with a crown of lit candles on her head.

Easter

For many Swedes, Easter’s greatest significance is getting a four-day weekend, well timed to polish up the boat, shake the cobwebs off the summer cottage or tidy up the garden. Still, the painting and eating of eggs is a hallowed tradition at the Easter smörgåsbord, along with salmon and pickled herring prepared in endlessly creative ways. On Maundy Thursday or Easter Saturday, young girls dress up and paint themselves as Easter witches, and then go around begging sweets from generous neighbours, giving hand-drawn Easter cards in exchange. This custom recalls an old northern European superstition that witches flew off to dance with the devil on the Blåkulla (Blue Mountain) at this time of year.

Valborgsmässoafton (Walpurgis Night)

Ancient pagan custom dictates that Swedes light bonfires on the last night of April to protect themselves against witches gathering to worship the devil. Today the celebration marks the end of winter and the coming of spring, and the bonfire is usually accompanied by choral singing. Walpurgis Night is celebrated all over Sweden, but for visitors to Stockholm the place to be is either the open-air Skansen museum, where fireworks add extra sparkle to the evening’s festivities, or Evert Taubes Terras on Riddarholmen.

Första Maj (May Day)

If you happen to be in Stockholm on May Day, you’ll probably run into marchers waving banners in Sergels Torg and other large squares throughout the city. The first of May has been celebrated in various ways since 1890. In the early 19th century, May Day was a hugely popular festival in Djurgården park and featured a royal procession. By the late 19th century, though, it had turned into a rally of industrial workers. It’s a lot more low-key these days, but it’s still an important event for left-wing Stockholmers. Due to the cold weather, there’s no maypole dancing – that’s saved for Midsummer.

Tjejtrampet

Given that Stockholm is such a bicycle-friendly city, it makes sense that it should host the world’s largest women-only bicycle race. Since the first race in 1990, some 80,000 women have cycled the 42km (26-mile) course. It is open to cyclists of all levels. Teenage girls and grandmothers pedal side-by-side in a show of female unity and a spirit of friendly competition.

Stockholm Early Music Festival

This four-day event attracts an impressive roster of established and new artistic talent from Sweden and Europe performing a programme of music from the Middle Ages, Renaissance and baroque periods. The festival takes place in Gamla Stan.

Stockholm Marathon

Few cities can match the beauty of this marathon route, which takes runners along waterside Strandvägen, Norrmälarstränd and Skeppsbron. Head for Lidingövägen to watch the runners take off, or if you want to be ready to glimpse the winner at the finish line, position yourself at Stockholms Stadion on Vallhallavägen.

Skärgårdsbåtens Dag (Archipelago Boat Day)

If the idea of travelling on one of Stockholm’s old-fashioned steamboats appeals, there’s no better day to do it than Archipelago Boat Day. A parade of steam-driven vessels make their way from Strömkajen to Vaxholm in the early evening. For those who don’t catch a ride, good places to view the boats are Strömkajen, Skeppsholmen, Kastellholmen and Fåfängen. The boats arriving in Vaxholm are greeted by live music and an outdoor market; visitors have a couple of hours to explore Vaxholm before returning to Stockholm.

Nationaldag (National Day)

Sweden’s National Day became a bank holiday in 2005. It celebrates Gustav Vasa’s election as King of Sweden on 6 June 1523 and the adoption of a new constitution on the same date in 1809. If you want a glimpse of the royal family in their traditional blue-and-yellow folk costumes, visit the open-airSkansen museum, where, since 1916, the King of Sweden has presented flags on this day to representatives of various organisations and charities.

Midsommarafton (Midsummer Eve)

Accelerator

The end of the month brings another Frescati festival, the two-day event featuring bands from as far afield as the US and Brazil, plus several UK acts.

Re:Orientfestivalen

Stockholm takes on a multicultural flavour during this annual festival, bringing together artists from the Middle East, northern Africa, India and Europe to perform at Södra Teatern on Södermalm. During the four-day festival, there’s a bazaar selling crafts, clothes and food and, in the evenings, festival-goers can sit back and smoke a Turkish water pipe at the Oum bar or dance at the Re:Orient Club. A lecture series adds some intellectual weight to this laid-back festival.

Mayo-Boules-Festival

Boules, or pétanques as aficionados call it, has a long history in Sweden, particularly with upper-class seniors, but a group of boules-crazy folk breathed new life into the sport by launching northern Europe’s largest boules festival in 1994. The name, La Mayonnaise (or Mayo for short), is a jibe at the world’s largest boules festival, La Marseillaise, in France. But there’s nothing stuffy about this crowd-pleasing festival, which organises friendly competitions for work colleagues, seniors and rookies, as well as more serious contests between the official international teams.

Stockholm Jazz Festival

The Stockholm Jazz Festival in July is one of Sweden’s premier live music festivals, pulling in some top-rate international artists (Steely Dan in 2007). The main site on the island of Skeppsholmen couldn’t be more picturesque; other venues include Konserthus, and stages in Kungsträdgården,Mosebacke Etablissement and Fasching. Some 30,000 spectators come to listen to more than 40 concerts featuring jazz, soul, blues and more.

Stockholm Pride Week

Uppsala-Reggae-Festival

Reggae is a Swedish summer favourite, and this festival just north of Stockholm in the first week of August, is the largest reggae festival in Scandinavia. It has featured artists such as legendary Bob Marley sideman Bunny Wailer and dancehall star Beenie Man. It’s as close as you’ll get to the Notting Hill Carnival this near the Arctic Circle.

Midnattsloppet (Midnight Race)

This popular night-time race, which has been going for over 23 years, could only be possible in the land of the midnight sun. More than 16,000 runners of all ages navigate a 10km (six-mile) course around Södermalm. But it’s much more than a race – and some 200,000 spectators get in on the act with loud cheering, asphalt-pounding enthusiasm, music and partying. To catch the starting gun, position yourself at Ringvägen, just south of the Zinkensdamm athletics field, at 10pm and then wait for the first runners to cross the finish line at Hornsgatan, not far from the starting point.

Lidingöloppet

The world’s biggest cross-country race has become a tradition for Swedes and runners from all over the world, drawn to the beautiful scenery and the challenging course. The first Lidingöloppet was held in 1965, and every year thousands of runners from some 30 different countries pass the finish line on Grönsta Gärde.

Stockholm Open

This prestigious tennis tournament was the brain-child of veteran tennis star Sven Davidson. In 1969 he received a letter from American colleagues asking him to arrange a competition in Sweden with tennis pros and amateurs from all over the world. The event was televised from the start, thus drawing a huge worldwide audience, along with 40,000 spectators each year, and has earned accolades as one of the most well-organised tournaments in Europe.

Stockholm International Film Festival

As the leading competitive film festival in northern Europe, the ten-day Stockholm Film Festival is aimed at launching young filmmakers and broadening the forum for innovative high-quality films in Scandinavia. It might not be Cannes, but the festival attracts some big names: past guests have included Dennis Hopper, Quentin Tarantino, the Coen brothers and Lars von Trier.

Nobeldagen (Nobel Day)

The year’s Nobel Prize laureates are honoured in a ceremony at Konserthuset (Concert Hall). In the evening, the royal family attends a banquet at Stadshuset (City Hall). Tickets for this glittering affair are coveted by Stockholmers, but they are usually only granted to the privileged few, though 250 of the 1,300 seats are reserved for lucky students. The rest have to be content with watching the proceedings on television and sighing over the fabulous menu, prepared by a top Stockholm chef.

Luciadagen (Lucia Day)

Nyårsafton (New Year’s Eve)

The New Year’s Eve celebration in Sweden is a public and raucous contrast to the quiet and private Christmas festivities. Visitors can join the crowds atSkansen, where New Year’s Eve has been celebrated every year since 1895. At the stroke of midnight, a well-known Swede reads Tennyson’s ‘Ring Out, Wild Bells’. Throughout the city, crowds fill the streets, feasting on seafood at various restaurants and moving from one club or bar to another. At the stroke of midnight, streamers and party trumpets accompany the sound of fireworks.