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WHAT'S ON IN SWEDEN

CHRISTMAS

Six Christmas events to kick off December in Sweden

December is officially under way and that means the Christmas season is starting to pick up pace. Here are six great events to kick the festive period off across Sweden this weekend.

Published: 1 December 2016 06:59 CET
Six Christmas events to kick off December in Sweden
Gothenburg is about to turn on its 'Lane of Light' from the centre of the city to Liseberg. Photo: Liseberg

The Lane of Light, Gothenburg

One way to make the most of Christmas in Gothenburg this year is to follow the city’s 'Lane of Light'. In essence it’s a three kilometre stretch of Christmas light installations running from Göteborg Opera on the harbour to the Liseberg amusement park further south, with various buildings, bridges and more lit up in different ways along the route.

The path also cuts through Kungsportsplatsen, where Gothenburg’s ‘Singing Christmas Tree’ will feature daily performances of Christmas songs until December 23rd. The Lane of Light starts on December 1st and continues until January 8th. A handy map of the route can be found here.


A section of a previous incarnation of the Lane of Lights. Photo: Dino Soldin/Göeborg & Co

Icehotel 365, Jukkasjärvi

The Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi near Kiruna is famous the world over, but while previous incarnations of the building have been allowed to melt before being completely remodeled and rebuilt each year, this month marks the launch of a new permanent section.

Icehotel 365 boasts nine deluxe suites – each with their own sauna – as well as its own ice bar and ice gallery, but apart from that most of the details are being kept under wraps, including what it will look like! As usual everything is built out of snow and ice, sculpted by artists who have been brought in from around the world to create it. The new section opens on December 1st, so why not start Christmas by finding out what all the fuss is about? Prices and tickets are available here.

Christmas concert, Uppsala

University city Uppsala will get the month going in a more subtle way with a Christmas concert this weekend to help spread some festive cheer.

The performance will take place on Saturday afternoon at Helga Trefaldighets church right next to Uppsala cathedral, and while the building isn’t quite as grand as its bigger neighbour, it still dates back to the 1300s. Vocal group Simplyfive will perform, times and the venue’s address can be found here.

 

A photo posted by Krystal  (@semi__swede) on Nov 11, 2016 at 7:02am PST

Winter Live, Umeå

Northern Sweden's biggest town is set to host a special winter event during the first weekend of December which will take over Rådhusesplanaden, the stretch between Rådhustorget and Järnvägstorget. That means music, dancing and other performances, reindeer, mulled wine and much more.

The events will run between noon and 4pm on Saturday and Sunday. Details are available here.

 

Streetviews #umea #umeå #visitumea #visitsweden #swedishmoments #northernsweden #november #streetview #umeälven

A photo posted by Visit Umeå (@visitumea) on Nov 14, 2016 at 5:33am PST

Live Christmas calendar, Stockholm

Every year, TV network SVT broadcasts a new Christmas calendar series with daily episodes airing between December 1st and Christmas Eve, and it’s so popular that many consider it an essential part of Swedish Christmas tradition.

The concept is taken a step further by the Mäster Olofsgården charity in Stockholm’s Old Town, which for the last 12 years has organized a live Christmas calendar in the area. At 6.15pm each day between December 1st and 24th different windows will open in Gamla Stan and a new Christmas calendar scene will be performed by Swedish actors and musicians, so if you’re in the neighbourhood at that time it’s worth keeping an eye and an ear open.

For those not willing to leave it to chance, a map of the different windows and the corresponding dates on which they will be opened on can be found here.

 

#gamlastan #levandejulkalender #godjul #julafton

A photo posted by Gustaf Hedberg (@stepmonto) on Dec 24, 2015 at 2:50am PST

Winter Magic, Malmö

One of Malmö’s biggest 2016 Christmas celebrations will take place at Gustav Adolfs torg under the umbrella of “Winter Magic” (Vintermagi). The square will be covered in lights and host igloos, a winter garden, and of course, a Swedish Christmas market from now until December 23rd.

READ ALSO: Ten of the merriest Christmas fairs in Sweden

The festivities are open daily between 11am and 6pm, and cost nothing to look at. The sweet treats on sale at the market are a different question.

Check out our interactive calendar below for more things to do in Sweden.

 

 

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FOOD AND DRINK

OPINION: Are tips in Sweden becoming the norm?

Should you tip in Sweden? Habits are changing fast thanks to new technology and a hard-pressed restaurant trade, writes James Savage.

Published: 5 April 2024 13:59 CEST
OPINION: Are tips in Sweden becoming the norm?

The Local’s guide to tipping in Sweden is clear: tip for good service if you want to, but don’t feel the pressure: where servers in the US, for instance, rely on tips to live, waiters in Sweden have collectively bargained salaries with long vacations and generous benefits. 

But there are signs that this is changing, and the change is being accelerated by card machines. Now, many machines offer three preset gratuity percentages, usually starting with five percent and going up to fifteen or twenty. Previously they just asked the customer to fill in the total amount they wanted to pay.

This subtle change to a user interface sends a not-so-subtle message to customers: that tipping is expected and that most people are probably doing it. The button for not tipping is either a large-lettered ‘No Tip’ or a more subtle ‘Fortsätt’ or ‘Continue’ (it turns out you can continue without selecting a tip amount, but it’s not immediately clear to the user). 

I’ll confess, when I was first presented with this I was mildly irked: I usually tip if I’ve had table service, but waiting staff are treated as professionals and paid properly, guaranteed by deals with unions; menu prices are correspondingly high. The tip was a genuine token of appreciation.

But when I tweeted something to this effect (a tweet that went strangely viral), the responses I got made me think. Many people pointed out that the restaurant trade in Sweden is under enormous pressure, with rising costs, the after-effects of Covid and difficulties recruiting. And as Sweden has become more cosmopolitain, adding ten percent to the bill comes naturally to many.

Boulebar, a restaurant and bar chain with branches around Sweden and Denmark, had a longstanding policy of not accepting tips at all, reasoning that they were outdated and put diners in an uncomfortable position. But in 2021 CEO Henrik Kruse decided to change tack:

“It was a purely financial decision. We were under pressure due to Covid, and we had to keep wages down, so bringing back tips was the solution,” he said, adding that he has a collective agreement and staff also get a union bargained salary, before tips.

Yet for Kruse the new machines, with their pre-set tipping percentages, take things too far:

“We don’t use it, because it makes it even clearer that you’re asking for money. The guest should feel free not to tip. It’s more important for us that the guest feels free to tell people they’re satisfied.”

But for those restaurants that have adopted the new interfaces, the effect has been dramatic. Card processing company Kassacentralen, which was one of the first to launch this feature in Sweden, told Svenska Dagbladet this week that the feature had led to tips for the average establishment doubling, with some places seeing them rise six-fold.

Even unions are relaxed about tipping these days, perhaps understanding that they’re a significant extra income for their members. Union representatives have often in the past spoken out against tipping, arguing that the practice is demeaning to staff and that tips were spread unevenly, with staff in cafés or fast food joints getting nothing at all. But when I called the Swedish Hotel and Restaurant Union (HRF), a spokesman said that the union had no view on the practice, and it was a matter for staff, business owners and customers to decide.

So is tipping now expected in Sweden? The old advice probably still stands; waiters are still not as reliant on tips as staff in many other countries, so a lavish tip is not necessary. But as Swedes start to tip more generously, you might stick out if you leave nothing at all.

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