“This year, our need of a sense of belonging is more palpable than ever – not just for Swedes but for people all over the world,” says Madeleine Sjöstedt, Director General of the Swedish Institute. “Therefore, I’m very proud that we can offer embassies and consulates creative and digital solutions to organize a huge digital National Day party with elements of both old and newer traditions.”
For many people, not least the over half a million Swedes who live abroad, the National Day is one of the major holidays of the year. It is a day when Swedish embassies and consulates around the world gather Swedes, Swedish alumni, their networks and partners to celebrate with music and food.
This year, the Swedish Institute is hosting a joint digital party, welcoming everyone no matter where in the world you are. The 24-hour livestream, Sweden live: National Day @ home, is aimed at a Swedish and an international audience and can be seen on the embassies’ social media channels as well as on Sweden’s official website, sweden.se. In April, posts on these channels were viewed a total of 35 million times.
The day will for example include:
- greetings from Her Royal Highness The Crown Princess and Her Family and Prime Minister Stefan Löfven
- concerts with Jens Lekman, ionnalee, Oscar Zia, Jay Jay Johanson and Loney Dear
- cooking with chefs Camilla Hamid, Jessica Frej, Paul Svensson and Gustav Johansson
- broadcast reports from Jan Eliasson, Ann Sofie von Otter, Basshunter, Nils Landgren, Christer Fuglesang, Bea Åkerlund, Anton Hysén, and Caroline Farberger
- Guided tours of Vitlycke Museum, the National Historical Museums, the Vasa Museum, Nordiska museet, and the Modern Museum
- the digital project ”Osäkerhetens tid” by The Royal Dramatic Theatre
The day is being jointly organized by the Swedish Institute and the Swedish embassies in collaboration with, among others, SR (Swedish Radio), SVT (the Swedish public service television company), the Vasa Museum, the National Historical Museums, Vitlycke museum, Nordiska museet, Moderna Museet, The Royal Dramatic Theatre, and United We Stream.
“Our goal has been to showcase a selection of the best that Sweden can offer. We hope of course that the day will convey a sense of global community during a difficult time”, says Karin Kärr, project manager at the Swedish Institute.
The livestream consists of three parts, adapted to viewers in three different time zones. Some elements will be broadcast multiple times so that they can be seen in all three time zones. The broadcast starts at 08:00 Swedish time on 6 June and continues for 24 hours nonstop. All elements are in English; some have been pre-recorded, others will be broadcast live.
The official Swedish social media channels are: sweden.se (web, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter), ru.sweden.se, (web, Facebook, Instagram and Vkontakte) and ar.sweden.se (web, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter).
Under prevailing circumstances, when people cannot travel and meet as usual, we have worked intensively to supplement our material with digital content. The National Day celebration is just one example of this work.