Text: Håkan Wike
Photos: Håkan Wike and Leif Milling
Take any event calendar of the Swedish Region Jämtland Härjedalen and you will have difficulties to find days with nothing happening. This region is more than lakes, forests and mountains, the evidence is there in lists of summer events. Sweaty multisport activities and events with hunting and outdoor themes, but also cultural events attract long-distance visitors and local enthusiasts.
In almost every village there are events with a lot of commitment involved. Unusual interests are mixed with giant events with some 30,000 participants. Race competitions such as the relay race St Olavsloppet have a long tradition (30+ years) and faithful participants, year after year. Östersund, Åre, Vemdalen and Funäsfjällen are some of the more eventful destinations during the year. Well-marketed events are easier to find for visitors, but if you travel around in the region, chances are that you may find your own little favorites where you least expect it. Large destination companies and event companies are the force behind many of the major events, but many of all the successful and recurring events are products of enthusiasts driven by the love of their special interest and what they are most passionate about.
Åre Extreme Challenge is a multisport event with the slogan; ”let nature challenge you”. 70 km of paddling, running and cycling around the village Åre. In spite of the fact that the event changed organizer six times during the 22 years of the event, the attraction of the event is still there. Henrik Wiled from the village Duved (west of Åre) and current organizer for the second year, has formerly been an official and logistics manager for the race for fourteen years.
“- Multisport is a concept which goes well with the Åre village, says Henrik Weile. The resort is associated with adventure and it is important to make sure an event goes well with the hosting community. Like in the case of Åre; the association is an active lifestyle and a bit of a challenge.”
The event holds a lot of logistic challenges, but luckily the Åre village attracts people with a lot of dedication.
”– The participants and officials are always happy, which makes it all the much easier to pull through an event like this one. I got the feedback; “best event in the northern hemisphere” from a german participant this year and I think that is a combination of the feeling of the place and the event combined which makes participants return time and time again.”
If sports and physical challenges in nature are a synonym for the region of Jämtland Härjedalen, then hunting, fishing and outdoor activities are another. When the organizers of the Game Fair in Fäviken on the east side of Mount Åreskutan felt they wanted to call it a day, there were another team ready to step in right away. The new team created Västgård Game Fair on the opposite side of the Kallsjön lake. Many of the organizers had been active in the former organization and felt right at home with the new team.
“- This will be the 25th year in a row with a grand Game Fair up here in the north of Sweden. This proofs the fact that a game fair like this one should be in the countryside and not in a town, says Egon Wikström, President of the Västgård Game Fair.”
“- Look at gadgets is something which can be done in any place, anywhere, there must be activities, tests, try-outs and shows, says Egon Wikström. An event like ours in a remote setting makes guests want to come to camp out here, to join the evening activities and shows. Others prefer to stay in a hotel in the village Åre some 35 minutes away and it is a good thing this opportunity exists. It makes the event more attractive to a wide spectrum of guests.”
Many guests come from far to experience Jämtland Härjedalen and Västgård Game Fair. The clear water of lake Kallsjön and the silhouette of Mount Åreskutan in the background, this feeling is nothing you can create in an airfield somewhere else in Sweden, even if logistics and the catchment probably would be more smooth in a location like that.”
Close to 25.000 visitors come to the small village of Kall for Västgård Game Fair. This is a village of merely 100 residents.
“- Kall has a wow-factor and the fact that the city festival Storsjöyran takes place this same weekend every year is nothing but an advantage, says Egon Wikström. More events means more reasons for choosing Jämtland Härjedalen for a summer holiday, especially for a family with a range of interests.”
During summer months cities and villages are packed with events in Jämtland Härjedalen. Large and smaller happenings make up an impressive event calendar.
”– If there is an association for holding a village together and there is someone competent to hire the right kind of staff and officials, then there will always be new events, says Egon Wikström who has been working in the area Kallbygden for years. To know people is the most important, to know what can be done and what can´t. In this region there is an immense urge to help out and create, I think it is synonymous for many villages in this part of Sweden.”