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CULTURE

Making the most of the 2011 Malmö Festival

As Sweden's southern metropolis of Malmö gears up for this year's Malmö Festivalen, contributor Caroline Bursell previews some of the event's main attractions.

Published: 18 August 2011 13:57 CEST
Making the most of the 2011 Malmö Festival

“I am Malmöfestivalen, your new best Swedish friend. I have all the hottest bands, first class theatre shows, extraordinary dance performances, exciting sports activities, food delicacies and unique art and design experiences.”

So reads the description on the website for the Malmö Festival, taking place Friday August 19 to Friday August 26 this year.

Ego aside, the description is accurate – an excess of popular concerts and internationally renowned guests are to fill the city streets, and all that is on offer is free for everyone to attend.

Since its start in 1985, the festival has always offered an abundance of popular concerts and internationally renowned guests which help fill the city streets with crowds looking to take advantage of the slew of free events.

This year boasts a massive assortment of well-known musical artists and performances to awaken culture in every corner of the city.

Here are a few tips to help make the most of your visit:

Music

On Friday, sisters Sierra and Bianca Casady, born and raised in the US, reconnect after years apart by making music as the eccentric pop/rock duo CocoRosie. Later on North Carolina’s Sam Beam, better known as Iron & Wine, tells tales with his iconic Folk Rock rhythms.

Saturday features the ultimate line-up for head banging, with Gothenburg’s Dead by April and Danish rockers Supercharger.

Los Angeles based indie ‘surf pop’ band Best Coast with their touch of 60’s flair and girl group sweetness adds a little sugar to on Sunday, with punk veterans NOFX performing on Monday

Midweek, go see ‘Treenigheten’ or The Trinity, a vibrant combination of three personalities with roots in even West India, New York and Gothenburg. The women that form this trio offer you dance and electro music and avant-garde salsa in a “suburban Indian” culture.

Friday’s acts include American hip hop icons CunninLynguists, performing rap in between measures of indie bass beats and even a well-orchestrated sample of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto – a distinctive performance you won’t want to miss.

Culture, Art, and Design

On Saturday, catch Future Shorts, a monthly short film festival born in London in 2003.

Come Sunday night, gamers can break out their costumes and virtual personalities to compete against other video gamers in “Cosplay” combat.

For a startling theatre experience to ignite your senses, see “Blood Wedding” by Spanish poet and dramatist Federico García Lorca, at central venue Palladium on Monday.

Newcomers Garbage Ass are a dance group that formed in March of this year, and have practiced weekly since to bring you a popping performance of lyrical hip hop on Tuesday.

Irish artist Kianoosh Vahabi presents an elegant reflection over Malmö’s gothic Saint Peter’s church and exciting video projections in the town square that can be seen all week – be there to fully experience the elements of musicality and meditation in his art.

For those who have never been to Malmö, Malmö Panorama is an opportunity to get to know the city like never before – the photos in this exhibition (which is open all week) showcases brand new angles and documents incredible city views in stunning detail.

Japanese artist Misaki Kawai creates a monumental masterpiece, transforming a super ramp into a wave (with up to at least 200 square meters of painted surface) that she aims for visitors to not only admire but also interact with – dive in from the very first Friday.

Food and Drink

Visit the 60’s tent for classic Swedish dishes to go with a taste of equally timeless song and dance, or visit the delicacy-filled booths at the Posthusplatsen venue when the continuous festival activities call for an energy boost.

Meet with TV4’s cooks on Sunday to learn how to make kafta, falafel, baklava and more herb-rich snacks from the Middle East, and then join organic enthusiasts “Raw Food House” for lunch on Monday to hear about the raw food lifestyle, how to go about it and the benefits of eating raw food.

And oyster lovers take note: for the first time in twenty years the Swedish Oyster Opening Championship is to be held over the weekend, a sight to see when picking up tips for the dinner table or a fun challenge if you decide you have what it takes.

Enjoy!

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READER INSIGHTS

‘Benny is always very kind’: Foreigners’ top encounters with Swedish celebrities

We asked The Local's readers to tell us of a time they met a Swedish celebrity. Here are their best stories.

Published: 16 April 2024 11:10 CEST
Updated: 16 April 2024 14:27 CEST
'Benny is always very kind': Foreigners' top encounters with Swedish celebrities

Some readers shared stories of encounters with Swedes who are also global stars, such as Abba or the King and Queen of Sweden, others spoke of meeting national celebrities who had helped them get to know their new home country.

Anne Foo from Malaysia is a fan of the Sällskapsresan movies by Lasse Åberg, who plays the kind but hapless Stig Helmer.

“It was one of the first Swedish films I watched when I first moved to Sweden that I could understand without needing to be fluent. It helped me understand the Swedish psyche and their humour and Swedish people in general,” she said.

Multi-talented artist Åberg is also known for his sketches of Mickey Mouse, as well as Trazan & Banarne, one of Sweden’s most famous children’s shows, and his band Electric Banana Band. Anne met him when she visited his museum, Åbergs Museum, outside of Stockholm.

“We were not expecting to see him there but we kind of heard he pops by the museum often to help out. We bought tickets for the guided tour and lucky us the guide fell sick (sorry guide!) and Lasse, who happened to pop by just then, took over and gave us a personal guided tour of his museum. He is just as he was as Stig Helmer. Has a down-to-earth humour, very intelligent and humble.”

Another reader, Doug, met Swedish singer Lisa Nilsson when she was performing the lead role in the musical Next to Normal at Stockholm’s Stadsteater, a performance she got rave reviews for.

“I have loved Lisa Nilsson for years, ever since Himlen runt hörnet was required listening in my Swedish class,” he wrote on The Local’s Facebook page.

“After the performance I waited by the stage door to see if I could meet her. Many people came out, but not her – until finally she exited, alone. I approached her and she was not just gracious – she seemed genuinely excited to meet an American fan. We stood (in the rain, no less) and spoke for a while. I came away feeling that my adoration was well-placed: talented, beautiful, and so down to earth. A wonderful entertainer and an extraordinary human being.”

Some readers also shared pictures of themselves running into a Swedish celebrity.

Benjamin Dyke met football coach Sven-Göran Eriksson in Torsby, where Eriksson grew up, at the opening ceremony of the Svennis Cup, a youth football competition held every year in his honour.

Eriksson, more known by his nickname Svennis in Sweden, during his long career coached teams such as Lazio in Italy and brought England, as coach, to the quarter-finals of the 2002 and 2006 World Cups. Earlier this year he disclosed he had been diagnosed with fatal pancreatic cancer.

Dyke’s encounter with Eriksson happened a few years ago, and he walked up to the Swede to thank him for his time as England manager and the two chatted for a while about that.

“He asked where I came from in England and I answered that all my family come from Liverpool. His eyes lit up (I now know he supported Liverpool all his life, as did his dad) but when I explained that I was an Everton fan (the other Liverpool team…) he quickly shut down the conversation and walked away,” said Dyke.

Sven-Göran Eriksson, left, and Benjamin Dyke in 2018. Photo: Private

Readers also shared their stories on The Local’s Facebook page. Lindelwa posted a picture of her chance meeting with Swedish Melodifestivalen winner John Lundvik at Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport, although she revealed they did not share a flight.

Lundvik represented Sweden in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest with the song Too Late for Love (and co-wrote the UK’s entry, Bigger than Us, the same year), with which he came in fifth.

Lindelwa and John Lundvik. Photo: Private

Gerard met Abba legend Benny Andersson outside his studio in Stockholm.

“I had never seen Benny’s studio so I went to take a look with the ferry from Djurgården to Skeppsholmen. I was told that Benny was in so I waited for a little while and he came out to meet a few fans,” he said, revealing that it was in fact not the first time he ran into Andersson, a composer also known for co-writing hit musicals such as Chess and Kristina from Duvemåla.

“He’s always very kind and patient. I had met him before, last time in 2010 in London for the concert of Kristina at the Royal Albert Hall. Next stop will be May 27th, the second anniversary of Abba Voyage in London where Benny and Björn will do a Q&A before the show.”

Gerard and Benny Andersson back in 2010. Photo: Private

Several other readers also said they had met members of Abba.

“I was a child visiting my relatives in Sweden the year Voulez-Vous was released. My aunt took me to NK [Stockholm mall] to buy the LP. On our way back to her apartment, she spotted Frida on Hamngatan. My aunt was amazing at celeb-spotting, and she was usually very discreet, but in this case she insisted I go up and say hello! Frida was happy to autograph the album for a young fan; it’s still one of my prized possessions today,” said Sue Trowbridge.

Of course, it’s not always easy to recognise celebrities. You might spot a familiar face but not be able to place it, as happened to Linda on two separate occasions when she ran into a Swedish acting star and a member of the Nobel Prize-awarding Swedish Academy.

“I accidentally stared at Pernilla August in a local food shop. She looked familiar but I couldn’t recognise her. She stared back and I suddenly came to my senses and looked another way. Embarrassed. I’ve also stared at Horace Engdahl,” she said.

In The Local’s original survey call-out, we also included a story from Australian reader Jake Farrugia, who was on his lunch break in NK when he spotted a familiar face, Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria. He walked up to her to ask for a selfie.

“She was very nice and we shared some small talk which truly made me feel like we were on the same level and that she had a strong sense of humanity, as I stood there, butchering her native language with my ‘work in progress’ level of Swedish. I can see why the Swedish people have a deep love and respect for her,” Farrugia said.

“It’s a very un-Swedish thing to do, that’s why I think it’s so fun! All of my encounters with celebrities in Sweden have been very positive so far. It’s all in the approach, you have to be respectful and be OK with others not wanting to give you their time of day, since we all have days where we are feeling less social and those can easily be interpreted as a part of our character, but they rarely are a fair representation.

“If I were to be a celebrity, Sweden would be the place to best blend in. It seems like celebrities can live a somewhat normal life as the construct of ‘celebrity’ isn’t viewed as a thing people go hysteric for as is the case in many other countries.”

The Local’s reader Jake Farrugia snapped this selfie with Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria. Photo: Private
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