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The Swedish Political Festival: Almedalen 2023
What is Almedalen?
Almedalen Week is Sweden's largest political event and take places every year on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea in the week following Midsummer. This year between the 27th June and 1st of July. It is a unique, informal gathering of politicians, journalists, business representatives, PR consultants, and other opinion leaders.
It began over 50 years ago with speeches held by the then Prime Minister Olof Palme during his summers on Gotland – in a park in Visby called Almedalen. In the summer of 1968, Olof Palme held a speech from the back of a flatbed truck, and thereafter the term “political week” was coined.
In 2022, the issue receiving the greatest attention – in terms of the number of themed events - was sustainability, followed by democracy and climate/the environment. In total, the official programme contained more than 4,400 appearances and over 600 events involved the participation of a politician. A total of 19,000 people came to Almedalen to listen to the party leaders’ speeches. The number of unique attendees is estimated at 35,000 and, since each person is estimated to attend for 2-3 days, this gives a total number of attendees of somewhere between 70 - 100,000 over the five days of Almedalen Week.
In recent years, political parties and their agendas have steadily played a less central role compared to previously. Instead, the event has developed into something of a “People’s Davos” - for businesses, the civil sector, municipalities and regions, government agencies, and the media. There are several parallel arenas, such as “Culture in Almedalen” and “International Plaza”. However, politics remains the week’s bedrock and many politicians from all levels continue to attend.
What were some of the key highlights from this years festival?
Almedalen was a little smaller this year compared to last year when it was also an election year. Last year's murder of the psychiatry coordinator for Sweden's municipalities and regions Ing-Marie Wieselgren, with more police and security now in place, probably also played a part. At the same time, most participants described it as very successful with time for interesting conversations and meetings.
The highlight of the week was of course the Rud Pedersen mingle, which is the biggest and most important in Almedalen with 12 years behind it.
Did you learn anything new that you will take back to the office?
The Almedalen Week is important to us, and we help many clients arrange seminars and meetings with stakeholders. It is also an important meeting place for meeting new customers, not least our own mingling, which has many VIP guests. At the same time, the week changes all the time and the former want to arrange their own events. After the summer, we will sit down to evaluate this year's week and see how we can sharpen our offer even more.
If you had to sum up the festival in 3 words, what would they be?
Openness, optimism, opportunities!
*Written by Malin Quick Oljelund, COO at Rud Pedersen in Sweden
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