Umeå - Your unofficial guide to the city as a home from home

Wheels - © Claire Williams 2010

Ice Sculpture Competition 2009 - - © Claire Williams 2010

Here are some annual events you might want to check out

Umeå Culture Night - Every year in late May there is a day/night of culture staged in various locations across Umeå. There are stages set in various places and you can see acts from Death Metal groups, dance acts, mime and popular musicians. You can download a map from the website and a full list of events. This year it takes place on Saturday 22nd May.

Beach Volleyball - There is a tour every year that comes to town every year and is worth a look. Not often you see a full blown beach volleyball tournament in the middle of town!

Eurovision Song Contest - In my experience the Swedes are secretly very serious about the Eurovision Song Contest - who can blame them after ABBA right?

They hold an annual two month long comeptition called Melodifestivalen in the months before the big event to choose their entry. It is aired on Saturday nights and is uaully fun to watch. It is one of those shows that everyone watches but noone really admits to it! If you want to have things to talk about in the fika room on your break, trust me, check it out! For my thoughts on this years contest click here.

Umeå Pride - Umeå is a very accepting city and every year there is a pride weekend celebrating lesbian, gay and bisexual people. There are a number of events, clubs night etc run and it is usually held in or around September.

Wheels - This is a brilliant event where everyone who owns old American cars drives roud town in a kind of parade to show them off. The streets are often lined with spectators and the atmosphere is great.

Nolia - This actually happens every other year in Umeå, lasts for around a week and is a huge Expo type fair. It is next due to be held here in 2011. It costs around 80 sek per adult for a day ticket and there are stands that sell everything from yachts to donuts, jcbs to dvds! Obviously prices might vary year to year.

Ice Sculptures - Every year there is an ice sculpture comeptition held in the City Centre. The huge carvings are then left for you to admire and are seriously impressive pieces of art.

Did you know...

Umeå has been chosen as the European Capital of Culture 2014? I am sure there will be lots of great events happening in the next few years to celebrate. Here is a link so you can see for yourselves what is going on - it should be in english. www.umea2014.se