The next big festival is just around the corner...
The Stockholm Culture Festival (
Kulturfestivalen), August 11th to 16th. This is one of my favorite festivals. Not only are there lots of things to see/do/experience, but it is all free! The only exceptions are the walking tours which, due to limited availability, cost 30 SEK to reserve a spot. For 6 days and evenings, the parks and squares of downtown Stockholm transform into concert venues, outdoor cinemas, circus tents and playgrounds for children. Food & drink tents as well!
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| The stage at Gustav Adolf's Torg, photo from www.kulturfestivalen.se |
The theme for this year's festival is "London" with many of the artists, shows and events coming from the British city (as well as Swedish artists and shows, of course!). In fact the festival is presented in collaboration with the British Council. As I mentioned earlier, there are hundreds of things to choose from... something for everyone, whatever your age or interests. Dance, theatre, art, film, circus, food, cultural walks and literature are all well represented at the festival. For an English program of the highlights, visit
their website and scroll down a bit to find a downloadable program in PDF format. Otherwise, if you are staying at the
Rival Hotel, stop by and talk to me or my colleagues for more information.
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| Performance venue Sergels Torg, photo by Dennis Wernersson. |
The festival is concentrated in the downtown area... in the squares
Gustav Adolfs Torg (GAT),
Sergels Torg,
Brunkebergs Torg and
Norrbro and the street
Drottninggatan. All these squares and streets are within a 10-15 minute walk from each other so it is very easy to get around. They are also easy to get to from the Rival Hotel... 3 subway stops, a 10 minute bus ride or else a 30 minute walk through the old town. There is another festival going on at the same time in the park
Kungsträdgården. This one is called
We Are Sthlm and is aimed at youths between 13 and 19 years of age and features lots of music, culture, sports and entertainment. So if you are travelling with teen-agers, you can just drop them off at this festival before heading to the Culture Festival to enjoy yourselves.
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| Photo by Lars Gullnäs, Stockholm Film Festival. |
Not only do we have the Stockholm Culture and Youth (
We Are Sthlm) festivals this week... it is also time for the annual
Summer Cinema. This event takes place between August 12th and 16th and is put on by the
Stockholm International Film Festival (which takes place later in November). They will be screening five movies in
Rålambshovs Park, one each evening. The movie starts approximately at 9pm, but there is staff on hand from 6pm selling popcorn, coffee and candy. The movie itself is free! They have to start that late as it is too light outside before 9pm. A great opportunity to pack a picnic basket and enjoy a movie in the great outdoors. This park is one of the few in Stockholm where private alcohol consumption is allowed (until midnight), so you can throw in a bottle of wine in your picnic basket. I would get there a little early to get a good spot! As you can see from the pictures, it is a popular event.
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| Photo by Jasmina Aleksic, Stockholm Film Festival |
Each year there is usually a theme to the movie selection. This year the theme is "outer space". The line-up is as follows:
All the movies are shown in their original language (English) with Swedish subtitles.
Rålambshovs Park is on the island of Kungsholmen. To get there from the
Rival Hotel, take either (blue) bus 4 towards Radiohuset (bus stop is called Västerbroplan) or the subway (green line) to Fridhemsplan.
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