Have you saved your late summer vacation for Stockholm? You must be clever! In the late summer, the city has turned dark-green and there is a huge amount of events going on in the city. Here’s things to do in Stockholm in late summer. 

Go for a pleasant (yes!) swim
If it’s any time of year one actually can enjoy a swim in the lakes of Stockholm, it’s now! The water has been heated up throughout the summer and best of all – most residents of Stockholm have started working again after their holidays, so you might be lucky enough to have a cliff or beach to yourself. Some inner-city suggestions are Långholmen Beach (Långholmen/Hornstull), Smedsuddsbadet (Fridhemsplan) and Tanto Beach (Hornstull).

Enjoy all the out-door festivals and activities
In August there are plenty of festivals happening in town. Stockholm Culture Festival (August 15-20) is a week filled with culture, with live performances and shows all over town. In celebration of Finland’s 100 year anniversary, a collaboration festival called Sthlm/Soumi will take place in Kungsträdgården (August 24-26) where you will be able to listen to Finnish music, eat Finnish food and just experience the culture (there’s even a sauna, of course). The running race Midnattsloppet (August 19) is the biggest running race of the year in Stockholm, the course of 10 kilometers goes through Södermalm and usually attracts thousands of spectators who want to cheer the participants. The race starts at 21.20 and ends close to Midnight (thus, the name Midnattsloppet – The Midnight Race). A photo of the route can be found here. Last but not least you of course have Nytorgsfesten at Nytorget (August 18-20), in the heart of SoFo. It will be a three-day music and folk party where you’ll find food experiences, a flea market, art, yoga in the park, tivoli, and much more.

Visit Djurgården 
There’s no time of year when the island of Djurgården is as beautiful as August. The island has turned dark-green and is as luscious as it can be. Out on Djurgården there are plenty of stuff to see: Rosendals Gardens, Rosendal Palace, and of course all the museums found on the island (it’s no wonder it’s called the museum island) – ABBA Museum, Vasa Museum, the Nordic Museum and Skansen. One can, in other words, easily spend a day out there – and you should!

The Stockholm Act is a completely new festival, that’s taking place between the 21st to 27th of August. It’s aim is to raise awareness and increase the knowledge about U.N’s global goal for sustainable development. 

The festival coordinates different parties from fields of culture, business, politics, science and civil society together for this week. Together they are to shape the festival. In the program – which consists of various types of events – you’ll find everything from performances, talks, markets and shows. A few examples on events we think sounds fantastic are Zero Waste Market, José González performing at Kulturhuset, the Global bar at Hötorgsterassen and Houdini Morning Hangouts. The full program can be found here.

If you’re in the city between 15th to 20th of August, you’re one lucky champ! This week, it’s time for this year’s edition of Stockholm Culture Festival. 

Every year, the Stockholm Culture Festival is arranged in Stockholm, to celebrate the diversity of culture in Stockholm. It has over 600 events and usually about 750 000 visits per year. This year’s theme is India. The festival is spread across the inner-city on locations such as Gustav Adolfs Square, Skeppsbron, Norrbro and Karl XII:s Square. Most of the events are free, with no pre-booking required. Since this year’s theme is India, there will of course be lots of events with the same theme. On the evening of the 15th of August you can join a Bollywood fest at Gustav Adolfs Square, a musical called Love Story – A Bollywood Musical. Earlier that day there are dance performances by students from the Stockholm School of the Arts from 14.00 – 14.30. Every day there will be a market at Skeppsbron, where you’ll be able to find Indian handcrafts, spices and accessories for sales, open daily from 12.00 – 22.00.

There are plenty of events that are not related to India too, for example the yearly recurring event “the world’s longest book table” on Sunday 20th of August, from 11.00 – 18.00, starting from Barnhusgatan and stretching to Strömgatan. The full program for Stockholm Culture Festival can be found here, don’t forget to switch to your preferred language in the box on the right. Enjoy!

Every year, Stockholm Film Festival arranges Sommarbio – Summer Cinema – a week of out-door movie screenings. Here’s the movies you can see this year and all you need to know. 

On the 16th of August, it’s finally time for this year’s week of summer cinema in Rålambshovsparken on Fridhemsplan (Kungsholmen city district). Every year there’s a special theme, 2017 it’s the 80s! Every movie starts at around 21.00 (when the sun sets) and is completely free. In the area you can buy popcorn, hotdogs and much more. This year’s schedule looks as below:

– Wednesday 16/8 – Do the Right Thing by Spike Lee
– Thursday 17/8 – My neighbour Totoro by Hayao Mizayaki
– Friday 18/8 – Dirty Dancing by Emile Ardolino
– Saturday 19/8 – The Big Blue by Luc Besson
– Sunday 20/8 – Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown by Pedro Almodóvar

Every summer in Stockholm an organisation called Parkteatern (the park theatre) arranges musical events, theatres and dance performances for free in Stockholm’s many parks. Wether you like to watch a play, listen to opera or folk music, it’s all available throughout the summer, and it’s all for free. 

The arrangement has been done since 1942 and always has something for every taste and age. It’s financed by taxes and let’s the residents and visitors of Stockholm enjoy a big cake of culture. In 2017, Parkteatern is expected to perform over 160 performances. Most of the range is in Swedish, but there are some grain of golds in English too. Below is a range, the full program available in English is found here.

– July 15th, you can watch Jazz in Galärparken, Djurgården. From 14-19 you can listen to jazz artists from Sweden, Denmark and Iceland.
– July 19th, you can participate in 5 Folk Festival in Kungsträdgården, where dancers and musicians from Sweden’s five national minorities perform, concert starts at 17.00.
– July 26th, it’s time for dancing in Kungsträdgården! Performances will be done with traditional dance from the Nordic, Arabic and Balkan countries from 18.00 – 20.00.
– July 30th, ABBA-fans will be pleased in Galärparken, when the tribute band The Visitors play some of the greatest songs from the famous band, starting at 18.00.
– August 3rd, it’s time to hit some high notes on Långholmen Amphitheater when the trio Divine will do solos from famous operas, starting at 19.00.
– August 16th, there will be dancing when the Danish Dancing Theatre performs at 19.00 in Vitabergsparken.

July is finally here! Time for some real summer heat. Are you visiting Stockholm this month? Here’s three things to do in Stockholm in July! 

Enjoy the festive summer spirit on a Stockholm festival
The summer in Stockholm is filled with festivals of all kinds. It’s simply a matter of what’s on when you are in town. On July 8 – July 9, the archipelago festival takes place on Djurönäset, approx. 50 minutes by bus from Slussen. This festival is suitable for the whole family – you can try activities on land and at sea, there will be live music during the whole day with concerts that suits the children and families. There will be a champagne bar by the sea where you can enjoy Swedish seafood and oysters. Putte i Parken is a free music festival in Kungsträdgården that takes place between 28th to 29th of July. In the enclosed festival area you will be able to listen to some of the best Swedish bands the country has to offer, have a drink or enjoy food from one of the many food stalls that’ll be available. Every Monday, Skansen’s main stage Solliden invites you to Jazz Mondays, so why not combine a visit to Skansen with some live jazz from 19.00 – 20.00? Concerts are taking place July 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31.

Go for a swim in central Stockholm
That Stockholm is a city surrounded by water is perhaps not something new to you. Since it’s built on 14 islands there’s a lot of water in between. And you can practically go swimming anywhere. However, there are of course (in our opinion) some places that’s better than others. The cliffs of Fredhäll is one of them, here you’ll find both cliffs and docks. To go here, take the metro to Kristineberg or bus 49 from Fridhemsplan to Vitalisvägen. On Långholmen you will find a small beach, as well as some cliffs to the right of the beach. The closest metro is Hornstull, from there it’s approx. a 10 minute walk. For the ones who prefer pools over sea, we recommend Eriksdalsbadet. Take the metro to Skanstull and walk to Hammarby Slussväg 20.

Enjoy the empty streets
July is pretty much known as the month when Swedes goes on vacation, meaning you will practically have the city for yourself! Take on the streets like you own them, go for a shopping spree on Drottninggatan or Biblioteksgatan. Take the chance to visit the most popular restaurants and clubs when their regulars are out of town. We plan on going to the out-door club Trädgården, Urban Deli Nytorget for dinner and to just relax in parks that’s not super crowded, for example Ivar-Los Park and Vitabergsparken.