Scandinavia’s biggest urban festival

So how many of you have actually been bothered to take the quick 20-minute train ride across the waters to Copenhagen’s little cousin, Malmö?

Probably not many. Traditionally, the appeal of Sweden is its vast natural beauty: the forests and lakes. But Scandinavia’s biggest urban festival, Malmö Festival, might just change your perception of all things Swedish as more than a staggering 1,000 events over eight days transform the streets, squares and parks of the town centre into a  buzzing hive of cultural activity. 

Once in Danish hands, Malmö resisted the claims of the territory-hungry Danes around 350 years ago and over the years developed into an industrial town, but recessions in the 1970s and 90s hit Malmö hard.  Boasting an impressively low average population age of 36, the town has gradually been able to reinvent itself as a Scandinavian centre of knowledge and culture. The bustling Malmö Festival gives the town a chance to showcase itself with 1.4 million visitors filling the streets for over a week of music, theatre, art, sport and food. The town centre is closed off and there are no entry charges. It’s one big Swedish street festival.

The festival kicks off on August 16 and closes the following Friday – just to give you an idea of the scale of the festival, there are an incredible 45 music concerts in Malmö alone on the opening day! Your best bet is to pick out your own programme, which is easily done at the official website, or just wander around and take pot luck. 

Malmö Festival  
Venues all over the city; starts Fri, ends Aug 23; free adm; www.malmofestivalen.se

Top Picks:

Looptroop Rockers 
Stora Scenen; Wed 19:00,
The excellent Swedish hip-hop act have released their first album in Swedish and sound as fresh as ever after 20 years as an international name. Should be a fantastic party atmosphere in a packed-out square

Dr Cagliostro’s Cabinet of Curiosities 
There is truly something for everyone at the Malmö Festival. Enter into the bizarre world of the good Dr Cagliostro and witness his collection of oddities, which include mummified mermaids and shrunken heads as the whole Lilla Torg square becomes a shrine to the mystic arts of magic and wizardry.
Lilla Torg; performances on Thu & Fri Aug 23, 16:00-20:00

Sean Kuti and Egypt 80 
The son of legendary Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti, Seun Kuti has carried on the family tradition and is one of the most exciting live acts at the Malmö Festival. Playing irresistibly funky rhythms that will have everybody on their feet, this is a chance to hear Seun’s interpretations of some old Fela Kuti classics.
Stora Scenen; Mon 21:30

La Tal presents ‘Carilló’ 
Spanish mime group La Tal perform the internationally-acclaimed Carilló around the clockwork of a giant timepiece. Mime at its very best.
St Petri; Mon 16:00, 17:30 & 19:00

Children’s land (Barnland) 
Plenty of activities all day and every day for the under tens including bubble blowing, building new toys from old, fishing and a toy exchange area.
Raoul Wallenbergs Park; daily 11:00-20:00 

Crayfish Party 
Maybe you haven’t brought your own crayfish to the party, but thousands of enthusiastic shellfish munching Swedes have and will once again try to smash not only the shells, but the world record for mass crayfish consumption. Don’t forget the traditional pointy crayfish hats, this is an unmissable event, one of the festival highlights, and a great place to watch the usually calm Swedes come out of their own shells.
Stortorget; Fri 19:00-22:45

Toughest Urban Obstacle Course
A tricky obstacle course to put your fitness and clambering skills to the test. For serious competitors, the best 16 compete in the final on the last Friday.
Central Park; daily until Thu, 16:00-22:00, final on Fri Aug 23

Concrete Farming 
Self-sufficiency co-operative Concrete Farming proves that absolutely everything can be used to promote biodiversity in towns and cities. Insect hotels and plantable paper flowerpots are just a few of its bright ideas.
EkoReko; Fri 16:00-18:00, Sat & Sun 12:00-14:00

Street Food Corner
Feeling peckish? In the EkoReko area, stalls represented by the Swedish chefs of Malmö’s best cafés and restaurants give you a chance to sample their wares. 
EkoReko; daily 11:00-20:00

Now in its 29th year, the Malmö Festival is a massive and diverse event with an emphasis on all things environmental. There is something for everybody, old and young alike, with all manner of musical and theatrical genres, sports, fashion, design and food represented. If you have never been to Malmö before, then the Malmö Festival is the perfect excuse for a trip to Sweden for eight vibrant days where the normally rather laid-back town centre of Malmö metamorphoses into a jam-packed colourful cultural cauldron. 

TOP STORIES

  • Chinese wind turbine companies sign pact to end race-to-the-bottom price war

    Chinese wind turbine companies sign pact to end race-to-the-bottom price war

    China’s 12 leading wind turbine makers have signed a pact to end a domestic price war that has seen turbines sold at below cost price in a race to corner the market and which has compromised quality and earnings in the sector.

  • Watch Novo Nordisk’s billion-kroner musical TV ad for Wegovy

    Watch Novo Nordisk’s billion-kroner musical TV ad for Wegovy

    Novo Nordisk’s TV commercial for the slimming drug Wegovy has been shown roughly 32,000 times and reached 8.8 billion US viewers since June.

  • Retention is the new attraction

    Retention is the new attraction

    Many people every year choose to move to Denmark and Denmark in turn spends a lot of money to attract and retain this international talent. Are they staying though? If they leave, do they go home or elsewhere? Looking at raw figures, we can see that Denmark is gradually becoming more international but not everyone is staying. 

  • Defence Minister: Great international interest in Danish military technology

    Defence Minister: Great international interest in Danish military technology

    Denmark’s Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen attended the Association of the Unites States Army’s annual expo in Washington DC from 14 to 16 October, together with some 20 Danish leading defence companies, where he says Danish drone technology attracted significant attention.

  • Doctors request opioids in smaller packs as over-prescription wakes abuse concerns

    Doctors request opioids in smaller packs as over-prescription wakes abuse concerns

    Doctors, pharmacies and politicians have voiced concern that the pharmaceutical industry’s inability to supply opioid prescriptions in smaller packets, and the resulting over-prescription of addictive morphine pills, could spur levels of opioid abuse in Denmark.

  • Housing in Copenhagen – it runs in the family

    Housing in Copenhagen – it runs in the family

    Residents of cooperative housing associations in Copenhagen and in Frederiksberg distribute vacant housing to their own family members to a large extent. More than one in six residents have either parents, siblings, adult children or other close family living in the same cooperative housing association.

Connect club

Connect Club is your gateway to a vibrant programme of events and an international community in Denmark.

Sign up here

Career

  • Come and join us at Citizens Days!

    Come and join us at Citizens Days!

    On Friday 27 and Saturday 28 of September, The Copenhagen Post will be at International Citizen Days in Øksnehallen on Vesterbro, Copenhagen. Admission is free and thousands of internationals are expected to attend

  • Diversifying the Nordics: How a Nigerian economist became a beacon for inclusivity in Scandinavia

    Diversifying the Nordics: How a Nigerian economist became a beacon for inclusivity in Scandinavia

    Chisom Udeze, the founder of Diversify – a global organization that works at the intersection of inclusion, democracy, freedom, climate sustainability, justice, and belonging – shares how struggling to find a community in Norway motivated her to build a Nordic-wide professional network. We also hear from Dr. Poornima Luthra, Associate Professor at CBS, about how to address bias in the workplace.

  • Lolland Municipality launches support package for accompanying spouses

    Lolland Municipality launches support package for accompanying spouses

    Lolland Municipality, home to Denmark’s largest infrastructure project – the Fehmarnbelt tunnel connection to Germany – has launched a new jobseeker support package for the accompanying partners of international employees in the area. The job-to-partner package offers free tailored sessions on finding a job and starting a personal business.

Want to advertise your job with CPH Post?

Contact us

Jobs