There are a few essentials you must experience during a traditional Swedish summer. In my opinion, you can’t leave the country before you have been to a proper  midsummer party with the “Little Frog”-dance, seen the midnight sun, tried our new potatoes with sourcream and chives, sung one drinking song on a crazy crayfish party and – most importantly – seen atleast one episode of the most popular TV-program ever in Sweden,  “Allsång på Skansen”  (Sing-a-long from Skansen). Or  even better, attended a local sing-a-long event yourself.

There’s something about Swedes and singing. We love it and we do it especially well in a big group. This love for a proper sing-a-long has resulted in thousands of sing-a-long-events all over Sweden. In the summer, lots of Swedish towns has their own sing-a-long which basically include a stage, a sing-a-long leader, some celebrity guests, some traditional Swedish songs and a singing audience. And boy do we love this! And if we don’t attend them ourselves, well I can bet all my money (not much left after three weeks holiday in Sweden…) on that we watch it on telly.”Allsång på Skansen” is an incredibly popular TV-program on SVT (Sveriges Television) that has been shown on telly since 1979 but has been going as an event since 1935.  The celebrities are fighting for an invite and people are sleeping outside the gates to get a front row seat. Every summer, the magazines are packed to the limit with Allsång-gossip, scandals and rumours (just like Melodifestivalen in the winter) and seriously, the position as next year’s host is more attractive than the one as Sweden’s prime minister.

 “Allsång på Skansen” is broadcasted live on Tuesdays at 8 pm  from the beautiful park Skansen in Stockholm. Gothenburg went the same way a few years back and has now its own live sing-a-long – “Lotta på Liseberg” on TV4 , Mondays  at 8 pm.

If you fancy a bit of traditional Swedish sing-a-long, the show is broadcasted live here at 8 pm  Swedish time tonight. The rumour has it that a couple will get married on stage tonight, the first couple ever to be wed live on the Allsång-stage. Do you dare to miss it?  If so, well here’s a short glipse of what it might look like in Stockholm tonight.

The Swedish host Anders Lundin and the Allsång-fans sing Mamma Mia in Swedish. I must warn you, it doesn’t sound great, but honestly, who cares?

PS: This is what a local sing-a-long can look like, this one was on Bohus Fästning in Kungälv and yup, I was there!