Stockholm Early Music Festival is the largest international event for historical music in the Nordic countries, presenting repertoire from baroque, renaissance, and medieval times.
The festival has since 2002 been held annually in the historical setting of Stockholm’s Old Town, in the special summer atmosphere of early June. The programme includes lunch, afternoon, and evening concerts, opera/dance performances, workshops and seminars.
With variation and quality as its motto the festival highlights the diversity of early music, offering a programme of known and unknown music from all over the world, featuring well-renowned as well as young emerging talented Swedish and international artists, both soloists, chamber ensembles, orchestras and choirs. This year a first performance in modern times, the Swedish baroque opera ”Birger Jarl & Mechtild”, will be in focus.
The nearest airport is Arlanda. To get from here to Stockholm C you can take: 1) Flygbussarna Airport Coaches - offers transfer between Arlanda Airport and Stockholm C with departures up to every 10 minutes; 2) Pendeltåg (commuter train) direction: Stockholm C, Södertälje C; 3) Arlanda Express: from Stockholm C take the subway one stop to Gamla stan (Old town), direction: Skarpnäck, Farsta strand, Hagsätra, Fruängen, Norsborg.
All the indoor venues are located in the Old Town and all close to each other: German church (Tyska kyrkan) where also the SEMF Ticket Office is located at Tyska brinken 13), Finnish church (Finska kyrkan), Musikaliska and the Cathedral Parish Hall (Storkyrkosalen).
There are a lot of hotels/hostels in the Old town close to the concert venues. There are a lot of tourists in June, so attendees should book accommodation in advance. The festival has cooperation with the Collector´s hotels where the festival´s artists also stay. Other hotels/hostels are: Scandic Gamla stan, Hotel Gamla stan, Castle House Inn, First Hotel Reisen, Hotell Skeppsbron, Hotel Sven Vintappare, Archipelago Hostel Old Town, Gamla Stan Apartments, Residence Perseus, ApartDirect Gamla Stan, Ramilton Old Town Hostel, Old Town Lodge, Castanea Old Town Hostel, Dockside Hostel Old Town.
Stockholm, as the capital of Sweden, is full of sights and attractions. Just in The Old Town you can visit the Royal Castle, Storkyrkan – Stockholm Cathedral, the Museum of Medieval Stockholm, the Swedish Parliament, the Royal Opera, the Nobel Museum and the Swedish House of Nobility.
Not far from the Old Town you can also find the Vasa Museum, the ABBA Museum, Skansen (the world’s oldest open-air museum, showcasing the whole of Sweden with houses and farmsteads from every part of the country).
There is no specific dress code. The weather is usually pleasant and sunny in Stockholm during this time of year, but it is good to have in mind that it can also be rainy and windy.
There is a great choice of restaurants in the Old Town close to the different festival venues, for example at Stortorget (the oldest public square in Stockholm). Some restaurants may need to be booked in advance, especially during the week ends.
