Music lovers should be heading to an exciting festival summer in Sweden this year. Daily Scandinavian has compiled a list of some of the venues worth visiting. Read on.
May
Gröna Lund
Venue: Stockholm
May 7 throughout summer months
While not exactly a festival, Sweden’s most famous amusement park puts on a whole set of gigs every year. Big names draw thousands of fans to the Stockholm park to enjoy a day of playful attractions – and great music. A huge variety of different artists for different crowds are expected to hit the stage this summer, from UK pop wonders Sam Smith and Olly Murs to Marilyn Manson. The park opens its doors on April 25th and its first concert will be by Swedish pop soul diva Veronica Maggio on May 7th.
Gigs will be organized throughout the summer. The full line-up can be found here.
Summerburst Gothenburg
Venue: Nya Ullevi, Ullevigatan Gothenburg, Sweden
May 29-30, 2015
Summerburst is Scandinavia’s premier contemporary music event! It’s a two day music extravaganza being held in Gothenburg & Stockholm. In 2015 the festival celebrates five years as a leading music event. Music lovers from all over the world are welcome.
For the Stockholm event, see June (below)
Ljudvågor (Sound Waves)
Venue: Visby, Gotland
May 13-16 mai
This is the annual composers’ music festival where students as well as professional musicians present their latest compositions. This year’s festival offers a wide range of styles from brass band to jazz. Information in Swedish only (link above).
June
SWEDEN ROCK
Venue: Sölvesborg, Blekinge
June 3-6
Sweden Rock Festival is a rock festival outside the town Sölvesborg in Blekinge in southern Sweden. The purpose of the festival is to offer its audience the best possible mix of classic rock, hard rock, metal, blues and related genres. We give a lot of weight to the overall experience and our aim is to raise the level of comfort for our guests every year.
We do not only want to present our audiences to the best music in the world, but also create a fantastic festival ground with a focus on service and hospitality. For instance, we are working hard to make sure that there is plenty of different kinds of food available while keeping lines to a bare minimum. We think that a festival area should offer clean, flushing water toilets instead of overfilled porta-potties. We have five stages to make sure that each artist gets a decent set length while our guests always have different styles of music to choose from at any given time. While other festivals clean their grounds after their events are over, we have 200 people continuously making sure that our guests can enjoy sitting on our grass slopes throughout the festival. And so on.
Summerburst Stockholm (See Summerburst Gothenburg above), May)
Venue: Gärdet Open Air Venue, Valhallavägen, Sweden
June 12-13
Uddevalla Solid Sound
Venue: Riversideängen, Uddevalla, West Sweden
June 12-13 juni
Here are the artists in this year’s festival.
Bråvalla Festival
Venue, Norrköping
June 25-27
This festival is sure to tickle the excitement of the 1990s pop generation, with one of the headline acts being a former member of British boyband Take That – Robbie Williams, who will perform alongside Calvin Harris. With only two years since its creation, Bråvalla’s popularity has increased exponentially and it has sold more than 50,000 tickets every summer, making it the most visited music festival in Sweden’s history.
Musik vid Siljan (Music at Siljan)
Venue: Spread around the three communicipalities in Siljan, Leksand, Mora og Rättvik in Dalarna
June 27- July 5
According to the organizers, Musik vid Siljan is a total immersion in beautiful music and breathtaking natural surroundings!
They claim it to be Sweden´s leading summer festival with musical events in concert settings filled with atmosphere. You can choose between indoors, in beautiful churches, museums or concert halls, or outdoors in genuine Dalecarlian villages, in the stunning Dalhalla lime stone quarry, or maybe way out in some picturesque pasture.
Musik vid Siljan has been a festival tradition since 1969, always in the first week of July, and it offers a wide variety of music to suit all ages and tastes. Enjoy concerts with symphony orchestras, chamber music, church concerts, choir music, jazz concerts, ballads and traditional folk music, poetry recitals, traditional dancing to fiddle music in various village cottages, children’s programs and workshops – as well as singer songwriters, popular music concerts and rock´n roll – close to 60 events in a feast of musical extravagance!
JULY
Peace and Love
Venue: Borlänge, Dalarna
July 2-4
The concept of the Peace & Love festival was to spread the message of Diversity, Solidarity and Understanding. It’s about crossing borders and bringing differing cultures from near and afar together and trying to get people to change their attitudes towards themselves and others.
Peace and Love come to the Swedish town of Borlange this summer, bringing their message of diversity, solidarity and understanding to this Scandinavian land. More than just your average rock music festival, Peace and Love is week-long event that acts as an annual meeting place for people of all ages and of all cultures and nationalities. Aside from good vibes and good messages however, the Peace and Love festival also brings incredible tunes! In the past artists as diverse as Patti Smith, The Hives, Lilly Allen, Jay Z and The Kooks have graced its stages. And in case all that isn’t good enough, Peace and Love Festival is aligned with Greanpeace and Amnesty International, so as you watch your favourite bands you can rest easy in the knowledge that your ticket fee is doing good work for the world!
Putte i parken (Putte in the Park)
Venue: Mariebergsskogen i Karlstad, Värmland
July 2-4
Putte I Parken is a Swedish music festival that takes place in the beautiful Mariebergs wood, the city park of Karlstad. The festival began eight years ago, and admission is now free. You may enjoy artists like Beatrice Eli, Markus Krunegård and Tove Styrke.
Malungsfors Ballad Festival
Venue: Malungsfors, Dalarna
July 11
Sweden’s coziest festival for the whole family in the rapids glade with music starting at 12 noon to 11 pm. Enjoy Sweden’s best performers of ballads.
For six years in a row, singers beyond the ordinary have performed at the festival.
Unpack your picnic basket and enjoy a lovely summer day in the countryside with Johan Eriksson at this year’s song festival in Malungsfors.
Geggan in Lerdala
Venue: Lerdala, outside Skövde, West Sweden
July 16-18
A huge rock festival oirganized for the third year. Among this year’s performers are:
CCCPn, Danava, Dee Rangers, General Surgery, Gregory Raimo, Hey Elbow, K-X-P, Lady Banana, Magna Mater, Norcosatanicos, Night Viper, Räjäyttäjät, Saturnalia Temple, Slowgold and Transylvania.
Gotland Chamer Nusic Festival
Venue: All around Gotland.
July 20-24
Experience Gotland Chamber Music Festival in the atmospheric medieval church ruin of S:t Nicolai in Visby and other churches on Gotland. The annual festival has been organized since 1986.
På begynnelsen av 80-tallet tok den verdensberømte pianisten Staffan Scheja initiativet til å etablere en kammermusikkfestival på Gotland. Det som begynte som en eksperimentell visjon i den gamle Roxybiografen, er nå et tradisjonelt og veletablert arrangement på den flotte øya. Festivalen har blitt holdt hvert år siden 1986, og i år er intet unntak. De fleste konsertene holdes nå i den nyrenoverte S:t Nicolai-ruinen i Visby, samt i ulike kirker rundt om på øya.
Les mer her
Emmabodafestivalen
Venue: Emmaboda, Småland
July 22-27 juli
Artists like Kalle Baah, Thomas Stenström och Masinen, Vengaboys and Dr. Bombay perform at this year’s festival.
Gay Pride
Venue: Stockholm
July 27-August 1
Stockholm’s famous Gay Pride festival at the end of July offers concerts every night by friends of the lesbian, gay, bi and trans gender (LGBT) community. The event, which is the biggest of its kind in Scandinavia, draws crowds from all around Europe in search of a week of great entertainment and party spirit in Sweden’s capital. Previous artists have included Ola Salo, formerly of Swedish glam rock band The Ark, and disco stars Alcazar. The main attraction, however, tends to be the massive Pride Parade which is usually attended by hundreds of thousands of participants and visitors, including many famous Swedish faces.
Ystad Sweden Jazzfestival
Venue: Ystad i Skåne
July 29-August 2
The Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival line up for 2015 will feature Dianne Reeves, Robert Glasper Trio, Richard Bona, Dhafer Youssef, Kenny Barron, Dave Holland and many more in a five-day program of 35 concerts and special events.
The concerts will take place at 10 historic venues dating from the 1200 – 1800s. One of the hallmarks of the festival is that concerts are held in intimate venues, with audiences of 120 – 400.
Storsjöyran
Venue: Östersund, Jämtland
July 31 july-August 1
More than 1,500 artists have performed at this town festival, when all of Öresund is altered to one big street party.
Confirmed acts for this year’s festival: Sting (UK), Thåström, Tomas Ledin, Seinabo Sey, Zara Larsson, Timbuktu & Damn! Teddybears, Hello Saferide, Turbonegro (NO), Hoffmaestro, Raised Fist, Anna Ternheim, Tove Styrke, Thomas Stenström, Silvana Imam, Lorentz, Joels Alme, Beatrice Eli, Love Antell, XOV, Death Team, Spiders, Maja Francis etc
Stockholm Music & Arts
Venue: Skeppsholmen, Stockholm
July31. July-August 2
Three sparkling waters surround the culture island of Skeppsholmen, perfect for summer experiences. Many famous artist attend this year’s festival. Click the link above and find out more.
AUGUST
Arvika Hamnfest (Harbour Festival)
Venue: Arvika, Värmland
August 6-8
Three days with music, dance and food for the entire family. More information about the programme, the artists etc you can find by clicking on the link above. The venue is situated just 400 meter from the train station.
Getaway Rock Festival
Venue: Gävle, East Coast
August 6-8
It may be surprising to think of sleek, clean and ‘lagom’ Sweden as the cradle of dark metal, but the genre enjoys a large fan base in the Nordic country and Getaway Rock Festival has been one of its biggest exponents. So if you’re a fan, don’t forget to visit Gävle on Sweden’s east coast this August. Over three days, bands will mix sounds from 1970s classic rock to gothic dark metal. The festival will feature acts such as old-school rockers Status Quo and power metal bands Hammerfall and female quarted Crucified Barbara.
Vemdalen Country Festival
Venue: Vemdalen, Härjedalen, Jämtland
August 6-9 august
The small ski resort area of Vemdalen offers country festival during summertime! Put on your Stetson and take part in this year’s 20th year anniversary.
Way out West
Venue: Slottsskogen (Castle Woods), Gothenburg
August 13-15
Acclaimed by international media for veggie food, excellent artist and beautiful surroundings. This is the ninth annual festival in a row with strong names like Pet Shop Boys, Beck, Patti Smith, Susanne Sundfør, Florence & The Machine, Kygo, Ellie Goulding, Belle & Sebastian, Tove Lo and First Aid Kit.
This is Hultsfred
Venue: Hultsfred, Småland
August 14-15
Hultsfred is located 350 kilometer south of Stockholm. The city is famous by the music festival it hold every year. The festival started in 1986 and since it hosts more than 30,000 visitors who enjoy three days if music played by teen bands from Scandinavia and other European countries on five stages. Some of the performers this year will be Samvetet, Västerbron, Labyrint, Fuzzy Vox and Dia Psalma.
Malmö Festival
Venue: Malmö, Skåne
August 14-21
The Malmo Festival is a warm, friendly and sustainable festival, which taken the city of Malmö for a wild dance one week every year since 1985. Right in the heart of the city you will experience everything from ground breaking art, music and culture to a variety of food that reflects the intercultural vibes and people of Malmo.
The environmental concerns have been awarded by A greener festival, the Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation and Yourope. With 1.4 million visits every year it has become the largest festival in a city environment in Scandinavia.
Visby Festival 
Venue: Visby, Gotland
August 21-23
You do not need a specific ticket to go to Medieval Week. The closest description of the event is a town festival, where there are activities throughout the city and in the rural Gotland. Medieval Week’s heart is the market area, but even here you do not need to pay any entry, in contrast to activities such as Jousting, concerts etc. you usually need to solve a separate ticket.
This is the only singer-songwriter festival in Sweden.
Popaganda
Venue: Eriksdals Bath, Stockholm
August 28-29
Boasting 20 quality pop acts, Popaganda festival in the heart of Stockholm is every indie kid’s dream festival! The bands who define the genre from Belle and Sebestian to The Shout Out Louds to Hot Chip and The Magic Numbers have all hit the Popoganda stages in the past, and who knows? You might just discover The Next Big Thing at the P-festival this year. Delicious food and drink are available throughout the festival site to keep you sated and hydrated, and Popoganda’s location smack in the heart of Stockholm means you won’t have a problem finding the place! So grab your tickets now for the Popoganda festival, because if you don’t the indie pop kid sitting next to you at that internet cafe will!
From Brass Band to Jazz – Music Festivals in Sweden, compiled by Daily Scandinavian