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The best-known festivals in Sweden: 11 events worth the trip
Sweden's festival summer is short, bright and intense, and it stretches from the rock fields of Blekinge to a lakeside city festival high up in Jämtland. This guide introduces the eleven best-known festivals in the country, with where and when each takes place, what to expect and a practical tip for visitors and performers.
Festival culture in Sweden follows the light. The season opens in early June, peaks in the long evenings of July and August and moves indoors in autumn, when the jazz and film festivals take over the theatres and cinemas of the larger cities. Because the country is long and thinly populated, the big weekends are spread far apart: a rock festival on the Blekinge coast, an indie festival in a Gothenburg park, a city festival on the shore of a lake in Jämtland.
Two traditions sit side by side. The ticketed camping festival, with its main stage, tents and campsite, is one; the free city festival, where a town centre fills with stages, street theatre and food stalls for a week in August, is the other. Malmö, Stockholm and Östersund each have one, and a long list of smaller towns follow suit. Practicalities are simple: tickets are sold online, payment is almost entirely cashless, English is spoken everywhere and public transport reaches most sites.
The festivals
Way Out West
Way Out West is the festival that put Gothenburg on the international circuit. Held in August since 2007, it combines indie, pop, hip-hop and electronic music with a film programme and a famously relaxed crowd. It is known for its urban character, its careful curation and for serving only vegetarian and vegan food on the site, a policy that has become part of its identity.
The daytime programme takes place in Slottsskogen, the large park just south-west of the city centre, so most visitors walk or take the tram from their hotel. After the park closes, Stay Out West moves the music into clubs and concert halls across the city until the early hours. The line-up mixes international names with the best of the Swedish scene.
Tip: Book accommodation early, since Gothenburg's hotels fill up on the festival weekend, and keep the Stay Out West club schedule to hand for the evenings.
Sweden Rock Festival
Sweden Rock Festival is the country's great gathering for hard rock and heavy metal, and its reputation reaches far beyond Scandinavia. Over several days in early June it presents classic rock legends, current metal bands and everything in between on several stages. The atmosphere is friendly rather than fierce: leather jackets, families, veteran fans and first-timers share the same field, and the festival has a loyal following that returns year after year.
The site lies in Norje, a village on the Blekinge coast just outside Sölvesborg in the south-east of Sweden. Fields, campsites and a small festival village surround the stages, and the sea is close by. Acts range from blues and classic rock to thrash and power metal, which gives the programme a broader sweep than the name suggests.
Tip: Most visitors camp; if you prefer a bed, look at Sölvesborg, Karlshamn and Kristianstad well in advance and plan the last leg by shuttle bus.
Malmöfestivalen
Malmöfestivalen is Malmö's free city festival and among the longest-established of its kind in Sweden. For just over a week in August the centre of the city becomes one large open-air venue, with concerts, street food, dance, comedy and activities for children spread over squares and parks. It traditionally opens with a mass crayfish party on Stortorget, a very Swedish start to a festival that draws people of every age and background.
Everything happens within walking distance in the compact city centre, from Stortorget and Gustav Adolfs torg to the parks along the canal. Stages host Swedish pop, hip-hop, world music and up-and-coming local acts, and there is no entrance fee for any of it. The food stalls, reflecting Malmö's many communities, are as much a reason to visit as the music.
Tip: Malmö is a short train ride from Copenhagen Airport, which makes the festival an easy add-on to a Danish city break.
Storsjöyran
Storsjöyran, usually just called Yran, is the big summer party of northern Sweden. It takes place in Östersund in late July, when the light barely fades, and grew out of the tongue-in-cheek Republic of Jamtland movement, whose humour still colours the event. A week of free street entertainment builds up to the ticketed festival weekend, when the city centre turns into a fenced festival area with several stages and a remarkably cheerful crowd.
The setting is central Östersund, on the shore of Lake Storsjön with the mountains of Jämtland in the distance. The programme leans towards Swedish pop, rock and hip-hop, with a strong tradition of booking the country's most popular acts alongside local favourites and comedy. Because the town is small, the festival takes it over completely for a few days.
Tip: Östersund has a railway station and an airport, but trains and rooms fill early, so book both as soon as the dates are announced.
Göteborg Film Festival
Göteborg Film Festival is one of the leading film festivals in the Nordic countries and a fixture of the Swedish winter. Held at the turn of January and February since 1979, it screens a wide programme of films from around the world, with a special focus on Nordic cinema and a competition for new Nordic features. The atmosphere is warm and public-spirited: this is a festival for audiences as much as for the industry.
Screenings take place in cinemas across Gothenburg, with the historic Draken cinema at Järntorget as the festival's main venue. Alongside the films there are talks, seminars, a market for Nordic productions and a lively social programme. For anyone in the city during the darkest weeks of the year it is the obvious reason to go out.
Tip: Popular screenings sell out quickly once the programme is published, so decide early and buy tickets online rather than at the door.
Kulturfestivalen Stockholm
Kulturfestivalen is Stockholm's free culture festival, filling the heart of the capital for several days in the middle of August. Run by the City of Stockholm, it puts stages in Kungsträdgården, on Gustav Adolfs torg and on Sergels torg, and the programme is deliberately wide: Swedish and international pop, world music, folk, jazz and classical concerts, dance, circus, street theatre and a large programme for children. Nothing costs an entrance fee, and the setting between the Royal Palace, the opera house and the parks along the water gives the festival a relaxed, continental feel.
Street performers and circus artists work the open spaces between the stages, which makes it a fine showcase for outdoor and walk-act entertainment, and local acts share the bill with touring names. The city's youth festival for teenagers runs at the same time in Kungsträdgården, so the centre is busy from early afternoon until late evening. Distances are short and most visitors simply wander from one stage to the next.
Tip: All the stages are a short walk from T-Centralen station; the evening concerts in Kungsträdgården draw the largest crowds, so arrive early for a good spot.
Stockholm Jazz Festival
Stockholm Jazz Festival has been part of the capital's musical life since 1980. It began on the island of Skeppsholmen and is now an autumn festival that spreads across the whole city in October, with concerts in concert halls, clubs, churches and bars. The programme reaches from established international artists to Swedish improvisers and young talent, and the range of venues gives each evening a different character.
Venues include the Konserthuset, the jazz club Fasching, Nalen and Södra Teatern, along with smaller stages in the suburbs. Rather than one site with a campsite, this is a city festival in the true sense: visitors move between neighbourhoods, and the autumn setting suits the music. Genres stretch from mainstream jazz to soul, world music and experimental sounds.
Tip: Combine a big concert-hall show with a late club set at Fasching; tickets are generally sold per concert, so plan the evenings you want early.
Baltic Sea Festival
Baltic Sea Festival, or Östersjöfestivalen, is a classical music festival with a distinctly international outlook. Founded in 2003 and organised by Swedish Radio, it brings orchestras, conductors and soloists from the countries around the Baltic Sea to Stockholm at the end of August and the start of September. From the beginning it has tied music to the environment of the sea itself, with talks and seminars on the state of the Baltic alongside the concerts.
The home of the festival is Berwaldhallen, the concert hall of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, close to the museums and parkland of Djurgården. Symphony orchestras, choirs and chamber ensembles perform large-scale works and new music, and many concerts are broadcast on radio, which gives the festival a reach well beyond the hall.
Tip: Berwaldhallen is a pleasant walk from Östermalm or a short bus ride from the centre, and the lawn outside is a fine place to wait on a late-summer evening.
Umeå Jazz Festival
Umeå Jazz Festival is one of the longest-running jazz festivals in the Nordic countries, held in the university town of Umeå since 1968. Every October it fills a long weekend with concerts that range from acoustic jazz to electronic improvisation and club music, and it has a reputation for adventurous programming. The atmosphere is intimate: audiences, musicians and volunteers mingle between sets, and the festival has long been a meeting place for the Nordic jazz scene.
Concerts take place at Norrlandsoperan, Umeå's opera house and cultural centre, and at other venues in the compact city centre on the Ume river, reached by train or a short flight from Stockholm. Alongside international names, Swedish and Nordic musicians make up a large part of the programme, and there is room for experimental projects that bigger festivals rarely book.
Tip: Late October is already cold in Umeå, so pack for winter and let the walk between venues be part of the experience.
Urkult
Urkult is a folk and world music festival with a devoted following, held in early August in Näsåker, a village deep in the forests of Ångermanland. Its setting at Nämforsen, beside a river bank covered with prehistoric rock carvings, gives it an atmosphere unlike any other festival in Sweden. The opening fire night, with drums and flames on the cliffs above the rapids, has become its signature, and the mood throughout is warm, unhurried and family-friendly.
The festival is run largely by volunteers and spreads over several stages, a market and camping areas along the Ångermanälven river. Performers come from Sweden, the Nordic countries and far beyond: fiddlers and singers from the folk tradition, African and Latin American bands, dance workshops and street performers. It is a long way from the big cities, which is precisely part of its charm.
Tip: Sollefteå is the nearest town and Sundsvall the nearest larger city; arrange transport in advance, as public links to Näsåker are limited, and bring warm clothes for the evenings.
Norbergfestival
Norbergfestival is a small festival with a large reputation, devoted to experimental electronic music, techno, ambient and sound art. Every July it takes over Mimerlaven, a disused mine building in the old mining town of Norberg, and the industrial setting is as much a part of the experience as the music. The crowd is curious and international, and the programme favours new ideas over familiar names, which has earned it respect across the European electronic scene.
Norberg is a former mining town in Västmanland, north of Västerås, surrounded by forest and lakes. Stages are set inside and around the old mine building, and there is camping within walking distance. Acts range from live electronic sets and modular performances to DJ nights and sound installations, and many of the artists are drawn from the underground rather than the festival mainstream.
Tip: Capacity is limited, so buy tickets well ahead; Norberg is easiest to reach by car or by bus from Fagersta, the nearest railway town.
For artists and organisers
Swedish festivals book early. The big summer events confirm most of their programme during the winter, usually through booking agencies and in-house bookers, while the free city festivals in Malmö, Stockholm, Östersund and dozens of smaller towns work with local promoters and municipal culture offices and book a great many regional acts. Showcase festivals such as Live at Heart in Örebro are the classic route in for new bands, and side stages and street programmes reward a strong live reputation. A EuroActs profile helps those bookers find DJs, bands and acts by city, category and travel area.
For organisers of smaller festivals, village fairs, midsummer celebrations, Christmas markets and city events, the practical advantage is direct contact. On EuroActs a booker writes to the artist, agrees the fee and the details without an intermediary and pays no commission, which keeps the budget for the stage rather than for fees on top. Artists and venues from seventeen countries are listed, with profiles in thirteen languages, so a Swedish organiser can find a Danish DJ or a German fire show as easily as a local cover band.
Frequently asked questions
Which is the biggest festival in Sweden?
There is no single answer, because Swedish festivals differ in kind. Among ticketed music festivals, Sweden Rock Festival in Blekinge and Way Out West in Gothenburg are the best-known names, each with a large and loyal following. The free city festivals, above all Malmöfestivalen and Kulturfestivalen in Stockholm, fill a city centre for a whole week without selling a ticket, so by sheer presence they belong in the same conversation.
When is the festival season in Sweden?
The outdoor season runs from early June, when Sweden Rock Festival opens it, through July and August, when Storsjöyran, Way Out West and the free city festivals take place. Autumn belongs to the indoor festivals: the Stockholm and Umeå jazz festivals in October, and Göteborg Film Festival at the turn of January and February. Midsummer weekend itself is usually quiet on the festival front, as most Swedes celebrate privately.
Do I need cash at Swedish festivals?
Very rarely. Sweden is largely cashless, and festival bars, food stalls and merchandise stands almost always take cards and mobile payment, while some sites are entirely cashless. Bring a bank card that works abroad and check whether the festival uses a wristband or app-based payment system, which is announced on its website before the event.
Which Swedish festivals are free to attend?
The free city festivals are the obvious choice: Malmöfestivalen in August, Kulturfestivalen in Stockholm in the same month and the street programme of Storsjöyran in Östersund in the days before its ticketed weekend. Many smaller towns hold their own summer festival with free concerts on the main square, and ticketed festivals occasionally add free events in the city as well.
How can a band or DJ get booked at a festival in Sweden?
Start local: city festivals and municipal summer programmes book many regional acts and are approachable by email. Showcase festivals such as Live at Heart in Örebro put new acts in front of bookers, and the side stages of the larger festivals are usually programmed by in-house teams who follow the club circuit. A complete, well-presented profile with video, photos and a clear travel area on EuroActs makes it easier for those bookers to find and contact an act directly.
Festivals in other countries
18 countries · 15 languages
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