Huskvarna Folkets Park

On June 18th, 1921, 100 Swedish kronor were borrowed from the Husqvarna Factory’s coffee fund. It was enough for a down payment on the land that Ingeborg Broman had offered to sell to the Huskvarna Social Democratic Youth Club. After four years of volunteer work, Huskvarna Folkets Park finally opened its gates on Midsummer’s Eve, 1925. The rain poured down, but nothing could stop the celebration. The workers of Huskvarna now had a meeting place, both socially and organizationally, and spirits were high.

A lot has happened since then. A historical review reflects the classic eras of the folk park: the 1930s as a gathering place for the young labor movement; the cultural youth revolution of the 1940s and the ’50s with Lill-Babs, Snoddas, and the greaser culture; the 1970s and ’80s with their dance band wave. Throughout, local theater, music, and community life played a central role. Today, pop music is a high priority, after being left out of folk park settings for many years. Folk park director Per Magnus Söder is proud of the park’s legacy.

- A consistent theme throughout the park’s history has been a focus on good entertainment. Some of Sweden’s biggest artists were here as early as 1925, traveling with touring troupes as was common at the time. Overall, there has always been a pretty high standard of events here, no matter the decade.

A proud music nerd

The talkative park director sits in a small office upstairs in the main building. It’s hard to imagine the entire grand and historic park being managed from this modest space. The walls are lined with tour posters signed by Sweden’s pop elite: Håkan Hellström, Veronica Maggio, Laleh, First Aid Kit. Per Magnus is a self-proclaimed music nerd—and proudly so.

- I’m a music fanatic and go to a lot of concerts and festivals. When I hear something good, I want to spread it. I can still remember the first time I heard Håkan Hellström. I was in the car, and they played "Känn ingen sorg för mig, Göteborg" on the radio for the first time. I actually pulled over just to hear it properly. That feeling is something I want others to experience too. And fun fact; I happened to be the first person outside of Gothenburg to book Håkan Hellström. Kind of cool in hindsight.

Per Magnus’ genuine love for music has sparked a pop musical renaissance in the park over the past 25 years. Major bands and artists from a range of genres now grace its stages, and many have praised the park’s unique atmosphere. Among them is a certain sibling duo named Söderberg.

- We booked First Aid Kit early in their career. That’s allowed us to bring them back multiple times. They discovered the Theater Barn, which they think is a fantastic venue. So many artists praise it. At some point, you just have to believe they’re being sincere.

He takes down one of the many framed concert posters from the wall.

- Take Veronica Maggio here, she adds "for real" to her thank-you note. Timbuktu said the same thing when he was here: "Best gig of the whole summer", even though he just two days earlier played at the Malmö Festival for 30,000 people.

The Magic of the Theater Barn

The Theater Barn is one of the park’s oldest stages, built in 1934. Over the years, it has hosted all kinds of theatrical performances, including a beloved long-running play about Huskvarna-born journalist Alf Henrikson in the mid-1990s. When Per Magnus took over a few years later, he envisioned it as a venue for grand concerts. And so it was: soon, the seats were removed, and the barn took on a new life. Since then, countless bands have performed on its wooden stage. Today, the barn carries a certain magical aura.

- Even back in 2001, when we did our first concert there with Bad Cash Quartet, something started to happen. Word began to spread. There’s something special about that space. Pop artists, metal bands, theater folks, they all say the same thing. The feeling intensifies when you go backstage and see the old posters from the ’20s and ’30s. It’s like being transported back to 1934. And the intimacy matters too. You can almost step on Thåström’s toes, even from the back row. There’s real magic in that old barn.

Car meets in the summer

While Per Magnus often gets swept up in the world of pop music, he emphasizes that it's only one part of the park’s offerings. The park also hosts senior events, dance band nights, expos, and most notably, car meets—one of the park’s fastest-growing attractions. These meetups have evolved organically, with hundreds of cars rolling in on select summer Wednesdays.

- The car meets started small, maybe 10 or 20 cars would show up, and we thought, "Wow, look at all these cars!". Today, we see 300–500 cars and an average of 3,000 visitors per event. Conny Månsson is the driving force behind it all. When there’s passion behind an event, it thrives. It has grown on its own, just through word of mouth.

Folkets Park - a meeting place for the people

Other events have grown in similar organic ways, helping Per Magnus and his team stay true to their overarching goal: to be a public meeting place. He passionately speaks of the vision to be a venue for everyone, regardless of age, nationality, or background.

- Most people in this town have some kind of connection to the park, hopefully recent, but also nostalgic. Maybe it’s where they met their first boyfriend or girlfriend, came with school, or played as children. The essence is the meeting place. The park is meant for everyone. That’s been our core concept from day one, and it still is. We want everyone to feel welcome. That’s what it means to be "folkets - the peoples - park".

It’s a never-ending task, but there’s plenty of proof that their efforts have paid off. The park has twice been named "Folk Park of the Year", even though the awarding organization (Folkets Hus and Parker) originally decided that a park could only win once. Huskvarna was simply too good to ignore and received the honor again in 2004. But the success hasn’t come without hard work.

- It’s the people behind it that make it great. If Arne Putzén hadn’t been the park director in the ’70s, or if the event organizers hadn’t been so passionate, we wouldn’t be where we are now. These days, artists and booking agencies often reach out to us, but it took a lot of passionate effort to get to that point, and it still does.

What does the future hold?

- If we’ve lasted 100 years, we can probably go another 100. But again, it all depends on the driving forces behind it. When you visit other folk parks across the country, it’s clear that the ones that succeed are the ones fueled by passion. Without those dedicated people, it doesn’t work.

And how does it feel to be a part of all this?

- It’s fantastic, otherwise I wouldn’t be doing it. For me, the biggest reward is seeing the joy that arises from the connection between artist and audience. When you see people go home with that tangible feeling of happiness - that’s my paycheck. That’s the best part.

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