Last Friday the Malmoe Festival ended for this year. It had then attracted 1,4 million visitors this time. The Festival lasted between August 16th and August 23d, and was held for the 29th year in a row. If you’re Swedish speaking you might find more information at http://www.malmofestivalen.se. The Malmoe Festival started in August 1985 and has had many attractions, involved many famous performing artists, scientists, journalists, writers, dancers, restaurant-owners, bakers, athletes, organizations and merchants over the years. And naturally many others. One attraction which lasted for many years as part of the Malmoe Festival was the dragon-boat race where teams from different companies raced against each other on the canals to win that year’s dragon-boat competition. That tradition lasted 1985 to 2006. The festival which always is held about the same period in August each year, from Friday to Friday is always started with a large out-door cray-fish eating party in the Major Square for those who like that. The top politician in town and “the festival general” introduces the event with a speech. Until 2009 the Festival was ended with a big fire-work display in the late Friday night sky. But Malmoe Municipality realised that it was too expensive and not good for the environment and stopped using that as a finale. If you visit Malmoe during the festival week you will notice that there are many merchants in the centre of the city, selling food from different parts of the world, candy, jewellery, art, but also information desks and kiosks from different authorities and non-profit organizations. There are street artists, lectures, seminars and concerts, all of that for free. The Malmoe Festival has something for every generation and every taste. It has also in recent years become the only Swedish festival which has been granted the prize “A Greene Festival” for its deliberate and well-aware ecologic and environment-responsible work. Lots of information about re-cycling of products, use of ecologic food and products on the festival area as far as possible is seen, The corner Eko Reko, i.e. roughly Ecologic Okay on Gustav Adolf Square was brilliant, and when I walked through there I noticed how well it was arranged. Of course the crowd made it all dirty and untidy, but there was a plan for how to deal with that in a good way. The festival committee encourages us to consider the following: Drink water from the water-taps, put your garbage in the right bins, turn the light off when you leave, avoid stand-by-function on technical equipment, choose vegetarian food, walk, ride a bike or go by bus or train, buy only what you need, take care of each other. VA Syd had put up water taps on the square for visitors to refill their water bottles. That was a good thought. See one of the pictures below. Also the Police and Customs officers were seen patrolling, talking to people, and information leaflets from both authorities could be read by passers-by. Both the police and the customs want help from the citizens with tips about drug deals and the smuggling of drugs. Call 112 and or look for more information at http://www.polisen.se and http://www.tullvarket.se. They are there to help us and keep some kind of law and order, while we are meant to help them.
I visited the festival twice last week, on Tuesday the 20th and Thursday the 22d. I picked a few things I wanted to see or hear, but also just strolled through the area taking in the atmosphere in general, stopping here and there. Here in Malmoe it’s very common nowadays with temporary artistic installations and sculptures, which liven up the city picture, and during the Malmoe Festival it’s no less so. Just take a look at the sign which starts this text, the photo above or some below.
The idea behind the festival is good, even though it might get a bit boring sometime too, since we see the same concept year after year, and I know many who have grown tired of the festival and don’t go there, or just occassionally. Still it is a magnet for the city: A time for entertainment, meetings, awareness, fun and enlightenment. That we must keep in mind. As I walked through the area I talked with some restaurant-owners and other merchants. There was a great variety. Some cooks who sold food from the Scanian area had started something called Smaka på Skåne/Taste Scania with the intention to develop Scania as a food region. Check it out on http://www.smakapaskane.se. Also merchants from north-western Scania were here, introducing us to the beautiful sites in their part of the province. You find more info at http://www.haslov.com, http://www.angavallen.se, http://www.fridhemsgaard.com and http://www.almaregarden.se. Of course there are other talents as well. One good association is a corporative of women from the Middle East in Rosengård which have a company there called Yalla Trappan/ the Yalla Staircase. They sell handicraft material, have exhibitions, a restaurant and catering of food they make themselves. They are worth being mentioned and visited because of their high quality stuff too. You find them at http://www.yallatrappan.se and info@yallatrappan.se. I saw how artists were performing in various ways on squares and in the streets, but also on stage. Last Thursday I went listening to a man called Mattias Boström who had written a book about Sherlock Holmes, how he was invented by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, inspired by his old medical teacher Joseph Bell and also how the character have lived on after Doyle’s death. The book was called “Från Holmes till Sherlock”. The seminar was held at Akademibokhandeln, and a few hours later on the same spot astronomer Peter Linde talked about whether there’s life in Universe or not. He was good listening to, has written a book on the subject and has the web site http://www.peterlinde.net. At Hedmanska Gården/The Hedman House a young woman called Emma Knyckare led a discussion with some scientists both young and middle-aged from Malmo University. Each scientist had ten minutes to talk about a subject connected to their research. It was interesting as well and the subjects varied: a dentist’s education, job and warning for not eating too much candy, how to use the language for didactic learning and rhetoric skills, the development of the IT during 50 years, as well as the creation of a text-message novel. We in the audience sat there listening, and were also given the possibility to ask the scientists some related questions, which they readilly answered.
On Gustav Adolf Square early that Thursday evening a choir of deaf and/or mute children from Östervång School here in Malmoe performed Loreen’s hit song “Euphoria” in sign language. In May 2012 the artist Loreen won the Eurovision Song Contest internationally with Thomas G:son’s song “Euphoria”, bare-foot, simple, straight, with a marvellous tune and dito voice. In May 2013 she performed it again in a break during this year’s ESC…. This time aided by a choir from the Adolf Fredrik Music classes in Stockholm and deaf children signing the song. Here at Malmöfestivalen it was done again. It was beautiful and moving to see. On my walk through the central parts of Malmoe I watched how varied things really were. Not a new fact for me, but still interesting. I saw merry-go-rounds, dance places for different kinds of dance, playing grounds for small and big children, information kiosks, people resting, talking, buying things. I saw people who did athletics or just watching. We all participate in something. I walked along the northern canal near the Central Station where also the busses go. North of the canals there’s dry land and buildings now, but the city has expanded. 200 years ago and before this was the coast line. The harbour didn’t exist, but Malmoe only had a pier by the beach to which the merchant ships had to take its merchandise, but from the end of the 1700’s things began to change and the city grew and developed. 1806-1812 the city walls were torn down and Malmoe expanded in all directions. It still does, since the city of Malmoe is constantly changing in various ways. Back on Gustav Adolf Square I saw a couple of young women performing on stage. They were called Say Lou Lou and were really, really good. Say Lou Lou consist of the Swedish-Australian twin sisters Miranda and Elektra Kilbey from Stockholm and Sidney. They play a kind of retro disco mixed with futuristic pop. Their main songs so far have been “Maybe You”, “Fool of Me” and “Julian”. They performed other songs too, and they did it well. I’m quite convinced that these twins will have a great career ahead of them. Over the years I have seen many great artists perform at the Malmoe Festival, both Swedish and from other countries. Lisa Nilsson, Helena Paparizou with and without Antique, Sanne Salomensen, The Real Group, Patrik Isaksson, Orup and Lena Ph, September and Craig David to name but a few. Every year there’s something new. What will happen during the 30 year anniversary for the Malmoe Festival in 2014?
Anders Moberg, August 26th 2013
swedish heart and soul 