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Festivals, music and theatre: just some of the summer attractions in Stockholm

Open house at Royal Palace on National Day

Astrid Lindgren museum opens

Hectic activity on Viking island

Strindberg comes back to stay

Scandinavian design exhibition

Museum in the City Hall tower

Marja becomes Stockholm's 50th Queen

Busy year for Stockholm's harbour

Accent on quality at Water Festival

Mälaren castle restored

8,000 at lung conference

Bob Dylan for Lollipop Festival

Baltic co-operation

New site for caravans in central Stockholm

Reptiles in the city centre

Original exhibition for royal stables

Newsletter 4/96

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Festivals, music and theatre: just some of the summer attractions in Stockholm
A visit to Stockholm in summer is an unforgettable experience. Sweden's capital embarks on a hectic round of seasonal events, outdoor cafés line the streets, festivals fill the parks and squares, outdoor aerobics enthusiasts and sun-bathers head for the beaches, and special events of all kinds follow one after the other throughout the summer. Special events for 1996 include a historical festival which is being arranged at Riddarholmen at the beginning of June, an oriental festival at Djurgården in mid-June and "Songs by the Water", a musical weekend when the beautiful City Hall Park is transformed into a concert hall for ballad singers and troubadours. The Stockholm Park Theatre is a popular traditional summer event, when the city invites residents and visitors to free open-air performances. Over the years the idea has been copied elsewhere, and this year's plays include "Pippi Longstocking" and "Macbeth". Among the summer's sporting events is the DN Gala athletics championship, which is attracting more international competitors than ever this year.
Stockholm Information Service, Eva Svensson, tel +46-8-789 24 10

Open house at Royal Palace on National Day
For the second year running, King Carl XVI Gustaf gave permission for the Royal Palace to be opened to the public on Sweden's National Day (6 June). The palace is not just the workplace and ceremonial centre for the King and Queen but is also one of Sweden's most important cultural and historical buildings. Visitors were able to enjoy special exhibitions and film shows, meet the palace architects and curators and see the craftsmen's school. At 19.00 on National Day the royal procession headed for Skansen, where the day-long celebrations included the selection of a Swedish national dish.
Court information department, Göran Alm, tel +46-8-402 60 59

Astrid Lindgren museum opens
One of Stockholm's newest family attractions opened to the public on 9 June. "Junibacken", (Junedale), located at Galärvarvet on the island of Djurgården, is a museum devoted to children's literature and, in particular, to the works of Astrid Lindgren. Visitors can board a computer- controlled "tunnel of love" train and travel through various Astrid Lindgren settings, guided by the author's own text and voice. (Foreign visitors have the choice of four language versions apart from Swedish). After the 10-minute train journey, visitors can see attractively-designed settings like Children's Book Square and the Villa Villekulla toy house. There is also a multimedia room and a small café with pancakes and milk on the menu. Pippi Longstocking's father's ship Hoppetossa is moored alongside the outdoor café at the Galärvarvet jetty.
Petra Samuelsson, Junibacken, tel +46-8-660 06 00

Hectic activity on Viking island
There has been hectic activity throughout the spring on the Viking island of Birka in Lake Mälaren in preparation for the official inauguration of the new museum by King Carl XVI Gustaf on 28 June. The museum will show how the Vikings lived in the Mälardalen valley, which was the main centre of Sweden in bygone days. Many visitors have already gone to the island for a "sneak preview" of the new museum. There is a lot of mass-media interest in the museum, and several international press visits are planned before the inauguration.
Annika Richert, Swedish National Heritage (Riksantikvarieämbetet), tel +46-8-783 91 52

Strindberg comes back to stay
Stockholm will commemorate August Strindberg and his works with a special festival in September for the third year running. As usual, the festival will be a mixture of anything connected with Strindberg: art, music, theatre, readings, city walking tours and exhibitions. An increasing number of performances by international guest artists are also taking place each year. An addition to the festival repertoire this year is a series of film evenings at the Skandia cinema, where filmed versions of Strindberg dramas will be screened, including five silent films accompanied by a virtuoso pianist. Another innovation is a romanza marathon at Wasahof, with concerts going on as long as the artists can manage. Fay Weldon will introduce a series of Strindberg speeches from the balcony of the author's home. The festival runs from 24 August to 1 September.
Strindberg in Stockholm, Sigrid Sällström, tel +46-8-34 86 47

Scandinavian design exhibition
Sweden is full of foreign visitors during the summer, so a summer exhibition should show something authentically Swedish, according to the National Museum of Art when its programme for June, July and August was announced. "Scandinavian Design" is the result, providing a nostalgic journey for Swedes and, hopefully, an aesthetic experience for foreign visitors who will be able, perhaps for the first time, to discover the 1950s concept of "more attractive everyday items". The National Museum has selected a variety of classic 1950s items from its collections which demonstrate that high standards of design have been maintained to this day. As a complement to the exhibition, visitors can also see the latest additions to the museum's handicrafts department, including Jonas Bohlin's concrete chair and examples of the Swedish Parliament's newly-ordered dinner service. Those who cannot get to Stockholm this summer can sample Swedish design elsewhere. Josef Frank, from the well-known interior-decoration and design shop on Strandvägen in Stockholm, is putting on an exhibition in New York City. Visitors to the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts will be able to admire many of Frank's famous textiles, lamps and furnishings.
National Museum of Art (Nationalmuseum), tel +46-8-666 42 50

Museum in the City Hall tower
Stockholm's City Hall has for a long time contained a well-hidden treasure. The plaster models for all the sculptures which decorate the building have been concealed in a dusty corner halfway up the City Hall's tower. Now the sculptures ¬ which include works by Carl Milles, Carl Eldh and Bror Hjort ¬ have been cleaned, repaired and restored and will be put on show to visitors. New lighting will show off the sculptures and the City Hall's beautiful vaulting to their best effect, and information boards and a new layout will provide the building with its own tower museum. The City Hall's architect, Ragnar Östberg, had the idea for a sculpture museum, but it has not been realised until now, 73 years after the building was inaugurated.
Stockholm City Hall (Stockholms stadshus), Jan Asplund, tel +46-8-785 96 09

Marja becomes Stockholm's 50th Queen
"A professional Stockholm ambassador whose services we must use even more effectively. She has a major role to play in our task of marketing Stockholm as a visitor destination," said Stockholm's Mayor, Mats Hulth, when he crowned Marja Wikman Ulrich as the 50th Mälaren Queen before a packed audience in the City Hall. The crowning of the Queen is a long-established Stockholm tradition going back to the 1830s. The Mälaren Queen is an affectionate name for Stockholm. She decorates the Gold Room in the City Hall and is the city's spirit and protector. The modern Mälaren Queens of the 1990s have a good knowledge of languages and of the city. They must have a deep commitment towards the city, because their work involves welcoming prominent guests, acting as a guide and hostess, and representing the city as an ambassador. Marja Wikman Ulrich has worked as a Stockholm guide for several years and is currently studying literature at Stockholm University.
Stockholm Sightseeing, tel +46-8-24 11 00

Busy year for Stockholm's harbour
Stockholm's quaysides will continue to buzz with activity over the coming years. Stockholmers are proud of their harbour and do not want to move it to a less central area. The cruise ships which visit Stockholm during the summer are popular visitors, and this year's calendar of calls in the city is already full. More than 100 cruise ships will moor at one or other of Stockholm's quays over the coming summer months. The first was Renaissance Five, which arrived at the Nybro quay on 18 May, while the attractive Song of Flower will make several visits to Stockholm's Skeppsbron quay. The giant vessel Queen Elizabeth 2 is too large to dock in the central area of Stockholm so, as last year, she will anchor off Nynäshamn when she arrives in Sweden on 2 August.
Bertil Boberg, Stockholm harbour, tel +46-8-670 26 40

Accent on quality at Water Festival
The organisers of this year's fifth Stockholm Water Festival are placing an even higher priority on quality. Despite an increased and redistributed budget, there will be fewer programmed activities and stages than in previous years. The festival area is smaller, and priority will be given to cultural events, food and the environment. This year the Water Pass will be needed for admission to concert areas and it will be enhanced with a number of additional benefits. This year's international fireworks championship will be moved back to Riddarfjärden and is a final between the winners of previous years. Competing countries are Australia and Spain, each with two teams, as well as Italy. The Water Festival will be staged earlier this year (2-10 August), and is also one day shorter than previously.
Stockholm Water Festival, tel +46-8-459 55 00

Mälaren castle restored
A derelict castle on Lake Mälaren, Mälsåker, has finally woken from a deep and tragic sleep. Swedish National Heritage has decided to restore the attractive but fire-damaged baroque building and has set up a craftsmen's school to plan the renovation and rebuilding of the castle in the best possible way. Stucco workers, upholsterers, restorers and joiners are just some of the specialists being trained at the castle to repair the work of their colleagues of 400 years ago. The castle will be open during the Swedish industrial holiday (6 July-4 August) so that visitors can admire the beautiful castle rooms, the views and the painstaking restoration work.
Strängnäs Tourist Office (Strängnäs Turistbyrå), tel +46-8-152 29 699

8,000 at lung conference
Stockholm's smokers will be living dangerously, particularly at the beginning of September. That is when about 8,000 lung doctors will gather for a conference at Stockholm International Fairs. A major exhibition will be staged in conjunction with the conference at the Älvsjö exhibition halls between 7-11 September, when the pharmaceutical industry will be showing its wares. The Swedish pharmaceutical companies Astra and Pharmacia will be among the exhibitors and are also acting as sponsors for the event.
Helena Stark, Stockholm Convention Bureau, tel +46-8-736 15 00

Bob Dylan for Lollipop Festival
The Lida open-air leisure centre in Botkyrka, south of Stockholm, celebrates its 50th birthday this summer, and will stage last year's successful Lollipop Festival for a second time. The organiser, EMA Telstar, expects about 20,000 visitors per day for the event, being held on 26-27 July. The main attraction is naturally the legendary Bob Dylan who, together with Nick Cave, Maria McKee and many other artists from Sweden and elsewhere, will be making their mark on the Stockholm summer scene. EMA Telstar has also been awarded the City of Stockholm's prize St Erik's Medal for its many contributions towards promoting special events in Stockholm.
EMA Telstar, tel +46-8-457 02 30

Baltic co-operation
Contacts and co-operation between Stockholm and Tallinn in Estonia are on the increase. Sweden Day in June will be marked in Tallinn when the Nordic countries are invited to promote their wares. There is also an exhibition at the Royal Armoury in Stockholm which highlights Swedish contacts with Estonia between the 16th and 18th centuries. The new Baltic cultural centre at Hässelby Castle is another example of Baltic co-operation. ESTO 96 will also be marked in Stockholm in August. This is an international cultural festival whose aim is to spread knowledge about Estonia, the Estonians and their culture. The festival includes a programme of cultural events, a trade fair for small companies from Estonia, a symposium and exhibition about the Baltic environment, meetings between twinned Swedish and Estonian towns, seminars about Estonia etc. The festival will be based at Stockholm City Conference Centre.
ESTO 96, Ulvi Paff Eriksson, tel +46-8-656 38 66

New site for caravans in central Stockholm
From midsummer a new camping site for caravans is opening on Långholmen island in the centre of Stockholm on a trial basis. The site will have space for 65 vehicles. Camping tourism has shown a strong growth in Stockholm in recent years, particularly for caravans which account for 16% of all camping overnight stays. The new site is attractively integrated among trees on Långholmen, known as the "green island", in an area which is used to lay up leisure boats during the winter. The site will be managed by the Stockholm Parking Company. It will remain open until 31 August and will be enclosed, with supervision until 22.00 in the evening. All pitches have an electricity supply, and service vehicles with showers and toilets will be available in the area. The price, including electricity, is SEK 140 per day.
Stockholm Parking Company (Stockholms Parkeringsbolag), Tommie Hedström, tel +46-8-772 96 65

Reptiles in the city centre
- Lizards, poisonous snakes, frogs and unusual birds are the latest residents in central Stockholm. They can be found in the Palmen Tropical House which has just opened a terrarium at Regeringsgatan 93. Apart from the various aquariums there is also a shop.
Palmen Tropical House (Tropikhuset Palmen), Robert Johansson, tel +46-8-411 61 26

Original exhibition for royal stables
The carriages housed in the royal stables are to be joined by some other specially-decorated vehicles. The Japanese artist Hiro Yamagata has decorated cars from the early 1950s with tropical flower motifs inspired by the flora of Fiji. The exhibition, "Earthly Paradise", was shown for the first time in Los Angeles in 1994 and will now tour the world over the next 14 years. All the proceeds of the exhibition go to the World Wide Fund for Nature.
Crown Equerry Magnus Olson, tel +46-8-402 61 04

Editor: Katarina Gentzel
Translated by Philip Ray

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