Upon arriving to Sweden, it is without a doubt that you will realize the diversity of cultures that exists. The students you will live or go to school with is just the beginning of the diversity you will be able to discover.
While many of these cultures are showcased by local restaurants, cafes, student groups or dance teams around the city, there are also many festivals that take place in Sweden.
These festivals give you the opportunity to understand more about some of the different cultures that exist. Usually you can try some traditional food, listen to different styles of music or watch some cultural dancing.
This past weekend the third annual Kulturenas Karneval (Carnival of the Cultures) took place in Uppsala. The idea of the carnival is to display and present some of the great cultural diversity in art, food, music and dance that exists within the city.
The feature of the carnival is the parade that sets off the day. The procession was filled with many different cultural dance groups from many countries, including a skillful acrobatic team tossing each other around, despite the threat of hard pavement below. The bright and barely there costumes along with the powerful drum beats made for an exciting parade.
Some of the dancers from the Carnival of Cultures Parade. Photos by: Kristin Follis
The rest of the day was filled with a food and craft market, film festival, dance and theater, live music, arts and crafts, as well as workshops for kids. There was an abundance of food from fresh Swedish fika breads to Ethiopian lentils to ecological hamburgers and even some Mexican corn on the cob and quesadillas.
The live music continued into the night featuring salsa, cumbia, rock and Moroccan styles. Also included was a number of different dance performances from styles all over the world.
Sweden’s culture diversity is without a doubt one of the greatest benefits to becoming a student here. Not only will you meet people from all over the world in your corridor and classes but also within the cities. Festivals and Carnivals like the one in Uppsala are great examples of how these cultures can be displayed and appreciated. And really, who doesn’t enjoy some salsa dancing and homemade traditional Ethiopian food all in one day?
The acrobats from the parade had some crazy stunts! Photo by: Kristin Follis
