Map (clickable):
We enjoy northern Sweden very much, and have made a lot of 8-10 day ski tours in the Laplandic mountains. We have many times talked about to visit the Jokkmokk Sami winter market, in cold, dark midwinter (first three days in February).
This year we made a trip which covered the market in two days. We also visited other areas of northern Sweden and did some geocaching. Geocaching, however, is not so easy when there are 1-2 meter snow on the ground.
It was en experience to travel in the mighty, snowy and cold landscape (temperatures between -10 to -25 degrees Celsius) with short days. We did not see many cars on the roads, which were very well maintained snow roads. The landscape was fantastic when all trees were covered with a lot of new snow.
The Jokkmokk market is a Sami market taking place on the first weekend in February, every year since 1605. It was a market for the Sami people to trade goods and to get together. Nowadays there are a lot of Sami art, culture and handicrafts and different themes (this year it was an Arctic gastronomic theme). There are around 35 000 - 45 000 visitors during the three days.
We visited the market on Thursday (the opening took place in the evening) and on Friday, and then the market was less crowded. We managed to get a room in the town. We had dull weather and a temperature of around minus 15 degrees Celsius.
Some places we covered during the trip:
- Abisko
- Jukkasjärvi church
- Jukkasjärvi Ice Hotel
- Jokkmokk market
- The sparsely populated area/road between Gällivare - Pajala - Haparanda
- Luleå Gammelstad UNESCO World Heritage
Pictures from the road trip and a video with beautiful songs from the Jokkmokk market opening.
A film below with some Sami music from the opening:
Hem (Mats och Camillas hemsida)