A Taste of Stockholm festival and the Swedish National Holiday

One of my favorite Stockholm festivals is going on this week: A Taste of Stockholm (Smaka På Stockholm in Swedish). The festival started yesterday (June 4th) and runs through Sunday (June 7th). This is an annual, popular restaurant/food festival and this year the festival is actually celebrating its 24th birthday. The festival is held in the Kungsträdgården park in central Stockholm. Within the festival you will find around 30 different restaurants and food trucks, representing a wide variety of cuisines... from Swedish to Vietmanese to Peruvian. Besides the restaurants, you also have a food market (salutorg) as well as beer/wine tents. Free admission.

There is also plenty of entertainment at the festival. They have live music performances on the main stage all day and evening... jazz, gospel, rock, opera and pop. Something for everyone! Besides music, there will also be cooking demonstrations as well as chef duels on the main stage. We are proud to say that the Rival Hotel's head chef, Håkan Carlsson, will be one of the dueling chefs on Friday evening (5pm). Click here for the schedule (Google Translate button in the top right hand corner). The festival is open every day between 11am and 11:30pm (closes at 10pm on Sunday) so it is a great place to stop by for lunch or dinner... or perhaps just a drink and snack, listen to some music and do some people watching?

The Swedish flag flying at Skansen www.skansen.se

This Saturday, June 6th, is the Swedish National Holiday. It is actually a minor holiday in the Swedish calendar... not as big of a celebration as the Fourth of July in the US, Bastille Day in France or Syttende Mai in Norway. Smaller shops might be closed and liquor stores definitely will be closed. Otherwise all museums and sightseeing tours are open/run as normal. If you do want to get a bit of the Swedish tradition with this day, head to Skansen, which is located on Djurgården. There will be concerts, flag waving and folk dancing going on throughout the day and in the evening the King & Queen will be arriving (procession from the Royal Palace) after which there will be speeches, a flag ceremony, performances and live music. Another good place to visit on this day is the Royal Palace, which will have free admission today as well as some special events. Prince Carl Philip will be at the changing of the guards at 12:15... probably one of his last appearances as a single man before getting married next week.
Arriving in Stockholm later this summer? Click here for a calendar of festivals and events, and click here for the ultimate summer guide.