Swedish traditions

Swedish coffee
Enjoying a coffee means to slow down for a while and appreciate the good things in life! A typical Swedish coffee means a few cups of brewing coffee and a freshly baked cinnamon bun, a classic pastry such as Napoleon, a cake or a yummy chocolate ball. The selection is large and we Swedes are happy to find more than one opportunity to have a fika, out or at home. When Swedes talk about fika, they generally mean a coffee. The coffee can be replaced with tea or empty lemonade, but some kind of non -alcoholic and preferably hot drink is always part of a coffee.

Swedish music
You can listen to Swedish playlists at music suppliers and you will find many! In Piteå we have one of Sweden's six music colleges and many of the Swedish artists have started their education in Piteå. Our concert hall is located in the same building area as the school and it is easy to find if you look for the high top up on the roof. The Concert Hall Studio Acusticum also houses organ Acusticum, which is a world -unique instrument for the 21st century. You can get a guided tour of the fantastic instrument at times. All concerts can be found in the event calendar here on the page.

 

The holidays we celebrate are many; here are some examples.

Advent
For first advent we light electric Advent candlesticks in our windows in different designs. The electric candlestick links to an old Swedish tradition of letting light burn in the windows to light up the Christmas visitors' road to the church. Historically, an Advent candlestick consists of four candles that start to light up on the first advent which is the fourth Sunday before Christmas, then you light one for every Sunday to finally all be lit. They became common in Sweden in the 1930s. It is a beautiful and symbolic decoration that marks the Advent period until Christmas, an important part of the Christmas tradition that creates an cozy atmosphere in the home.

Lucia
In Sweden, Lucia is celebrated on December 13 when it was believed to be the darkest night of the year. Today's Lucia got its breakthrough in 1927 when Stockholm Dagblad organized a Lucia train, nowadays we have more people in the group of the Lucia train. Happy Lucia!

Christmas
Christmas Eve is the highlight of the Nordic Christmas tradition. In Sweden it is on Christmas Eve that Santa Claus comes. Many families eat Christmas lunch before Kalla Anka's Christmas, which TV broadcast at 15.00 since 1960. Then the Santa comes with the Christmas presents.
The traditionally Christmas Table is a large selection of different traditional dishes that many restaurants offer in december. 

Easter
Easter is the most important weekend of Christianity. The religious message is to remind Jesus' suffering, death and resurrection. On Easter Eve we set out the Easter table and we can serve food such as herring, Jansson's temptation, salmon, sweets and of course eggs. We decorate the eggs with Easter colors, we paint eggs together with the family and enjoy to socialize.

Midsummer
In addition to Christmas, midsummer is perhaps the most important holiday in Sweden, it marks the beginning of a period of vacation and the beginning of the summer.
We celebrate spring and all vegetation with leafy midsummer bar as the main attribute. We dance around the midsummer bar and the melody about the little frogs (små grodorna) is an example of a song that we dance to. It is common to have lunch with herring and fresh potatoes and to enjoy strawberries in different ways. Another thing that lives on from the peasant society's folk belief is that the vegetation gained magical powers during the midsummer night and to put seven or nine kinds of flowers under the pillow that night would show in the dream the one you should live your life with.