The Almedalen Week (, ), also known as Politician's Week in Almedalen () is an annual event taking place in week 26 in and around Almedalen, a park in the city of Visby, Gotland, Sweden.
With speeches, seminars and other political activities, it is considered to be the most important forum in Swedish politics. During the week, representatives from the major political parties in Sweden take turns to make speeches in Almedalen.
It has inspired similar events to be held in other countries, like Suomi-Areena in Finland, Arendalsuka in Norway, Arvamusfestival in Estonia and Folkemødet at the island of Bornholm in Denmark.
History
The origin of the Almedalen Week was the speeches made by Olof Palme during several summers in Almedalen. He was in Visby because he and his family used to spend their summers at Fårö. It started with an improvised gathering that Palme, then education minister and candidate for the position of party leader for the Social Democratic party, and another party leader candidate, Krister Wickman had on 25July 1968. Palme made his speech from the back of a flatbed truck at Kruttornet by the Almedalen park. The audience was a couple of hundred people.
Because of the origin of the Almedalen Week, Almedalen is sometimes nicknamed "Palmedalen".
The first official Almedalen Week took place in 1982, when the Social Democrats started to organise economic seminars. As a response, the other political parties started to take a more active part. The first time all of the major party leaders were present was in 1982.
In the middle of the 1980s, the week almost ceased to be. In the summer following the assassination of Olof Palme in 1986, only the Green Party and the Left Party were present. The rest of the parties expressed that political speeches in Almedalen were too associated with Palme as a person. Ingvar Carlsson, who became prime minister after Palme's death, said that he chose to hold his speeches at other locations in Visby during the following years out of respect for Palme. He only started speaking in Almedalen after having been persuaded to do so by Palme's widow, Lisbet Palme.
21st century
In recent years, the event has grown larger, with hordes of journalists, lobbyists, local and national politicians, employees from local, regional and national organisations and representatives of non-governmental organizations all coming to Visby to meet, discuss politics and socialize. As of 2015, it is the biggest and most important forum in Sweden for seminars, debates and political speeches on current social issues. In 2014, 3,513 activities were held, 866 journalists were accredited and over 30,000 participants were at the event. One important factor is that all seminars are free of charge. The absolute majority of them are also open to everybody.
On 6 July 2022, during a speech the psychiatrist Ing-Marie Wieselgren died after being stabbed by a right-wing extremist. The stabbing occurred near to a stage where Centre Party leader Annie Lööf was about to give a press conference. After the fatal stabbing, the perpetrator was apprehended by a pensioner and shortly thereafter arrested by police.
The number of activities, participants and journalists covering the week has increased during the years. These are the official numbers:
Year Activities Organizers Accredited journalists Participants 2016 3,796 1,756 650 40,000 2015 3,465 1,645 800 35,000 2014* 3,513 1,459 866 35,000 2013 2,285 1,029 727 20,000 2012 1,818 986 709 17,000 2011 1,476 767 560 14,000 2010* 1,396 758 900 11,000 2009 1,041 589 450 7,500 2008 662 350 362 6,000 2007 440 225 318 5,000 2006* 463 175 500 n/a 2005 250 120 200 n/a 2004 140 n/a 120 n/a 2003 110 n/a n/a n/a 2002* 90 n/a 110 n/a 2001 52 n/a n/a n/a * = election year
Organization Almedalen Week is an annual event taking place in week 26 in and around Almedalen, a park in the city of Visby. It is coordinated by Gotland Municipality and the cost of the different activities is carried by the organization responsible for it. Each day of the week is dedicated to one of the political parties represented in the Riksdag, on a rotating schedule. In 2011, the number of days were extended to eight since there were then eight parties in the Riksdag. A number of other lobbyists, organizations, companies and representatives from municipalities and countries are also present.
Awareness
With the increasing numbers of activities it has become more difficult for the individual participants to get noticed by spectators and the media. This has resulted in a number of spectacular actions during the years. In 2010, the spokesperson for the Feminist Initiative, Gudrun Schyman, burned SEK 100,000 during a speech about the inequality in wages for men and women. In 2005, actress Kim Anderzon, artist Ernst Billgren, musician Olle Ljungström, among others, declared that a new party, the Kulturpartiet (the Cultural Party), had been created and that they were candidates for the Riksdag. It was later declared that the party had been an elaborate hoax created by the National Swedish Touring Theatre to raise awareness for cultural issues.
Criticism Political scientist Maria Wendt has criticized the Almedalen Week and states that it has clarified how much politics in Sweden have become dependent on media, and now conforms to the terms and tools of the press, TV, radio and websites. Wendt says that whereas earlier media would report what went on in politics, it is presently more common to have debates taking place in the media itself. The language and messages delivered by politicians are conformed to fit in the frames provided by TV and newspapers, making comments short, powerful and lacking in nuances. The Almedalen Week is an event where such shortcomings are becoming more visible, according to Wendt. She suggested that instead of dedicating each day to one of the parties, the days should be used to highlight specific issues.
During the Almedalen Week journalists, politicians and lobbyists socialize in a way that under normal circumstances would not be considered correct. This has been compared to a liminal phase, a term used in social anthropology for when normal rules cease to apply for a short while, like during carnivals, after which everything returns to normal. What has previously been taboo, is allowed for a short while.
Similar events in other countries Similar events have been held in Finland, Denmark and Norway. The Finnish event is called SuomiAreena, started in 2006 in the city of Pori. The Danish event was started in 2011, on the Bornholm island. A Norwegian version of the week was held at Eidsvoll. The event was scheduled to take place in Arendal again in 2011, but was postponed because of the 2011 Norway attacks. The event is now back. In 2007, a South Korean delegation came to Visby to study the concept of the Almedalen Week. According to political scientist Yonhyok Choe, the island of Jeju is a likely candidate for the event. In 2013, the Arvamusfestival in Estonia was started.
Quote Almedalen Week visitor Dennis Kucinich commented on the event:
In 2014, the Almedalen Week was profiled by the US program Democracy Now!.
Speakers These are the main speakers since 1968 in chronological order.
1968-1974 Olof Palme (S)
1975 Thage G. Peterson (S) Lars Werner (VPK)
1976 Olof Palme (S) Lars Werner (VPK)
1977 Olof Palme (S) Olof Johansson (C) Lars Werner (VPK)
1978 Olof Palme (S) Lars Werner (VPK)
1979 Olof Palme (S) Lars Werner (VPK) Karin Söder (C)
1980 Olof Palme (S) Anders Dahlgren (C) Lars Werner (VPK)
1981 Olof Palme (S) Thorbjörn Fälldin (C) Lars Werner (VPK)
1982 Olof Palme (S) Ulf Adelsohn (M) Thorbjörn Fälldin (C) Alf Svensson (KD) Lars Werner (VPK) Ragnhild Pohanka (MP)
1983 Olof Palme (S) Alf Svensson (KD) Lars Werner (VPK)
1984 Olof Palme (S) Lennart Daléus (C) Alf Svensson (KD) Lars Werner (VPK) Björn Eliasson (MP)
1985 Olof Palme (S) Thorbjörn Fälldin (C) Alf Svensson (KD) Lars Werner (VPK) Ragnhild Pohanka och Per Gahrton (MP)
1986 Alf Svensson (KD) Lars Werner (VPK) Eva Goës och Birger Schlaug (MP)
1987 Ingvar Carlsson (S) Görel Thurdin (C) Alf Svensson (KD) Lars Werner (VPK) Eva Goës och Birger Schlaug (MP)
1988 Ingvar Carlsson (S) Olof Johansson (C) Alf Svensson (KD) Lars Werner (VPK) Eva Goës (MP)
1989 Ingvar Carlsson (S) Olof Johansson (C) Alf Svensson (KD) Lars Werner (VPK) Per Gahrton (MP)
1990 Ingvar Carlsson (S) Görel Thurdin (C) Mats Odell (KD) Lennart Beijer (VPK) Jan Axelsson (MP)1991 (14–20 July) Gullan Lindblad (M) Alf Svensson (KD) Lars Werner (V) Ingvar Carlsson (S) Olof Johansson (C) Birgit Friggebo (FP) Margareta Gisselberg och Jan Axelsson (MP)
1992 (12–18 July) Ian Wachtmeister (NYD) Birger Schlaug och Marianne Samuelsson (MP) Görel Thurdin (C) Ingvar Carlsson (S) Lars Werner (V) Anne Wibble (FP) Mats Odell (KD)
1993 (17–24 July) Ulf Dinkelspiel (M) Ian Wachtmeister och Bert Karlsson (NYD) Birger Schlaug och Marianne Samuelsson (MP) Helena Nilsson (C) Ingvar Carlsson (S) Gudrun Schyman (V) Anne Wibble (FP) Alf Svensson (KD)
1994 (17–23 July) Vivianne Franzén (NYD) Alf Svensson (KD) Olof Johansson (C) Ingvar Carlsson (S) Gudrun Schyman (V) Bengt Westerberg och Anne Wibble (FP) Birger Schlaug och Marianne Samuelsson (MP)
1995 (19–24 July) Ingvar Carlsson (S) Alf Svensson (KD) Birger Schlaug och Marianne Samuelsson (MP) Gudrun Schyman (V) Björn Brissund (Gotlandic party) Olof Johansson (C) Vivianne Franzen och Sven Dybeck (NYD)
1996 (14–19 July) Gunilla Segerlund, Björn Brissund, Odd Magnusson och Torsten Andersson (Gotlandic party) Alf Svensson (KD) Marianne Samuelsson (MP) Ingvar Carlsson (S) Johan Lönnroth (V) Olof Johansson (C)
1997 (14–19 July) Olof Johansson (C) Ingela Thalén (S) Alf Svensson (KD) Birger Schlaug (MP) Gudrun Schyman (V)
1998 (11–17 July) Lars Leijonborg (FP) Gudrun Schyman (V) Lennart Daléus (C) Margot Wallström (S) Alf Svensson (KD) Birger Schlaug och Marianne Samuelsson (MP)
1999 (11–16 July) Birger Schlaug (MP) Gudrun Schyman (V) Andreas Carlgren (C) Anna Lindh (S) Alf Svensson (KD)
2000 (10–14 July) Alf Svensson (KD) Matz Hammarström (MP) Thomas Östros (S) Lars Ohly (V) Lennart Daléus (C)
2001 (8–13 July) Maud Olofsson (C) Alf Svensson (KD) Lars Stjernkvist (S) Matz Hammarström och Lotta Hedström (MP) Pernilla Zethraeus (V)2002 (6–14 July) Gudrun Schyman (V) Lars Leijonborg (FP) Maud Olofsson (C) Göran Persson (S) Alf Svensson (KD) Maria Wetterstrand och Peter Eriksson (MP) Lars Olof Andersson (Gotlandic party)
2003 (6–12 July) Bo Lundgren (M) Ulla Hoffmann (V) Lars Leijonborg och Marit Paulsen (FP) Maud Olofsson (C) Anna Lindh (S) Alf Svensson (KD) Peter Eriksson (MP)
2004 (4–10 July) Håkan Wåhlstedt (MP) Fredrik Reinfeldt (M) Lars Ohly (V) Maria Carlshamre (FP) Maud Olofsson (C) Bosse Ringholm (S) Göran Hägglund (KD)
2005 (3–9 July) Göran Hägglund (KD) Maria Wetterstrand (MP) Fredrik Reinfeldt (M) Marita Ulvskog (S) Lars Leijonborg (FP) Maud Olofsson (C) Lars Ohly (V)
2006 (3–9 July) Göran Persson (S) Göran Hägglund (KD) Maria Wetterstrand och Peter Eriksson (MP) Fredrik Reinfeldt (M) Lars Ohly (V) Lars Leijonborg (FP) Maud Olofsson (C)
2007 (8–14 July) Andreas Carlgren (C) Mona Sahlin (S) Göran Hägglund (KD) Peter Eriksson (MP) Anders Borg (M) Lars Ohly (V) Nyamko Sabuni (FP)
2008 (6–12 July) Jan Björklund (FP) Maud Olofsson (C) Mona Sahlin (S) Göran Hägglund (KD) Maria Wetterstrand (MP) Fredrik Reinfeldt (M) Lars Ohly (V)
2009 (28 June–4 July) Lars Ohly (V) Jan Björklund (FP) Maud Olofsson (C) Mona Sahlin (S) Göran Hägglund (KD) Peter Eriksson (MP) Fredrik Reinfeldt (M)
2010 (4–10 July) Fredrik Reinfeldt (M) Lars Ohly (V) Jan Björklund (FP) Maud Olofsson (C) Mona Sahlin (S) Göran Hägglund (KD) Maria Wetterstrand och Peter Eriksson (MP)
2011 (3–10 July) Åsa Romson och Gustav Fridolin (MP) Fredrik Reinfeldt (M) Lars Ohly (V) Jan Björklund (FP) Maud Olofsson (C) Håkan Juholt (S) Göran Hägglund (KD) Jimmie Åkesson (SD)2012 (1–8 July)