Scandinavia’s biggest and bestest Halloween event is back for its 8th edition on Saturday the 3rd of November. Make sure to join in on the fun as part of the parade in your best Halloween costume or just watch.
Bringing the Halloween parade to Stockholm was the dream of New Yorker Bill Schacht, who was missing his favorite holiday in his new home-town. The first parade in 2011 attracted around a thousand people and the event has been growing ever since.
Highlights over the years have included transforming Globen into a giant Halloween pumpkin in 2014, which just went to show what can be done when you dream big and make those dreams come true.
This year’s parade on the 3rd of November starts from Kungsträdgården and goes on to encircle Gamla Stan, continues down Skeppsbron and back to Kungsträdgården where there will be more entertainment and activities. The parade promises to be more interactive than ever, with surprisesand performances along the parade route. Some of the artists slated to perform on stage include Adée and Ida Gratte.
The stage programme at Kungsan will once again be hosted by the amazing Anna Jois (above). Beside artist performances you can expect to see some of the best Halloween costumes on stage, as there are great prizes to be won in the official costume contest. The competition is divided into different age groups, and this year for the first time even man’s best furry friends get their own category with the Hounted Doge Costume Contest.
Beside the parade there are already some events going on during the höstlov week ahead of Saturday’s parade. See more details from Shockholm’s homepage.
One of the most interesting events is the Stockholm Bites, in which Shockholm challenged Stockholm chefs to be extreme and creative and come up with limited edition Halloween-inspired bites. At the Shockholm kick-off party, we got the chance to sample some of these delicacies, including devilishly spicy Harakiri sausage, chicken feet and deep-fried veal brain. Make sure you get a taste yourself… the participating restaurants this year are: Ebenist, Helldog, Gnarly Burger, Sabor Carioca, Caribarrio and Pharmarium.
Gallery photos above courtesy of Shockholm / Patrick Österlund
So go grab a taste of these amazing bites at the restaurants during the week, or try them out at Kungsträdgården on the day of the parade.
Shockholm is made possible by a whole bunch of creative and inspiring volunteers, and it’s free for anybody to join so you really have no excuse to miss out on this. Come in your finest Halloween garb and bring your kids for some trick or treating. Shockholm is expecting something like 6000 people to turn up this year.
And if you’re still not convinced, here’s a few more highlights from last year’s Shockholm.
Photos by Nina Uddin except when otherwise noted.
