All Things Live planning new Swedish festival
The team behind Sweden’s Big Slap are planning to launch a new festival next spring, it has been revealed.
A Day in Lund is earmarked for Patrik Rosengrens park in the city from 24-25 May, reports SportOchFritidSnyheter.
Adonay Beyed of promoter All Things Live (ATL) says the pop, hip-hop and house music-focused festival will be located close to Klostergården’s new train station, with the lineup to be announced on 27 January.
The festival is being presented in collaboration with the Heja Lund! initiative and the municipality of Lund, which are financially supporting the event in 2024, with the option for follow-ups in 2025 and 2026.
ATL, whose Swedish festival portfolio includes Varberg’s A Day in the Park and Smögen’s Amaze, acquired electronic music festival Big Slap in 2020, but organisers recently announced the event would not be returning following this year’s edition.
“A new journey will now begin with a new brand, format, and a new vibe sooner than you think”
Big Slap, which launched in Malmö in 2013, grew from 15,000-capacity to 52,000 over the past decade and welcomed the likes of Justin Bieber, Burna Boy and Swedish House Mafia, but founder Ali Eftekhari told Sydsvenskan it had reached its “maximum limit”.
The plans for A Day in Lund were teased by the Big Slap team in a social media post, which said: “Since 2013, we have been dreaming of making Big Slap bigger and better each year. We have achieved all our goals and fulfilled our dreams.
“Some journeys end at the top! A new journey will now begin with a new brand, format, and a new vibe sooner than you think!”
Live Nation has also confirmed that Lollapalooza Stockholm will “take a break” for 2024 to give promoters time to “re-evaluate and make improvements across the board”.
A music festival proposed for Norrköping next June by startup promoter Event Peking, has also now been cancelled.
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Two major Swedish festivals cancelled
Two of Sweden’s leading festivals will not take place next year, it has been confirmed.
Lollapalooza Stockholm will “take a break” for 2024 to give promoters time to “re-evaluate and make improvements across the board”, while organisers of Malmö’s Big Slap have opted to call it a day after 10 years.
Staged by co-creator Perry Farrell, WME, C3 Presents and Live Nation Sweden/Luger, Lollapalooza Stockholm launched in 2019 to become the third Lollapalooza event in Europe following spin-offs in Paris, France and Berlin, Germany. Its most recent Swedish edition, held from 29 June-1 July, was headlined by Travis Scott, Kygo, Lizzo, Zara Larsson, Mumford & Sons and Lil Nas X.
However, HBL reports the domestic market has shifted away from major festivals – referencing the now-defunct Hultsfred, Bråvalla and Peace and Love – in favour of more niche events such as Live Nation’s Way Out West and Sweden Rock Festival (LN also axed this year’s Summerburst, saying it had “decided to focus on the other festivals”).
But despite the country’s struggles with high interest rates and inflation, communications manager Alexander Kihlström denies the economic climate is to blame for Lollapalooza Stockholm’s hiatus.
“I cannot say more details about when the festival will return”
“We’ve had three fantastic festivals so far and it’s entirely possible to do events in Stockholm and around Sweden, which we can see not least from our friends Sweden Rock and Way Out West, who are going like a train again this year,” says Kihlström. “I cannot say more details about when the festival will return. There is a desire and an interest in festivals that have very big international acts.”
Elsewhere, Big Slap, which launched in 2013, was acquired by Nordic giant All Things Live in 2020. But organisers have decreed that its 2023 edition, which welcomed acts such as Burna Boy, Swedish House Mafia, 3 Are Legend, Steve Angello, Rita Ora, Armin Van Buuren Bebe Rexha and Hardwell in August, was its last.
The electronic music festival had grown from a one-day 15,000-cap affair to a 52,000-cap, two-day event in 2022 when it was headlined by Justin Bieber. But citing a desire to go out on top, founder Ali Eftekhari tells Sydsvenskan the festival has reached a “maximum limit” in terms of its development.
Swedish audiences’ propensity to gravitate towards new festivals over established brands is well documented, and a social media post hints that a fresh festival concept is in the works by the Big Slap team.
“A new journey will now begin with a new brand, format, and a new vibe sooner than you think”
“Since 2013, we have been dreaming of making Big Slap bigger and better each year,” reads the statement. “We have achieved all our goals and fulfilled our dreams, all thanks to you.
“Some journeys end at the top! A new journey will now begin with a new brand, format, and a new vibe sooner than you think! Stay tuned.”
Sydsvenskan reports that new festivals are in the offing for next summer in Malmö and Lund, while Live Nation is resurrecting Stockholm’s Sthlm Fields concert series. The June/July series will comprise around 10 shows and feature in the region of 30 artists. Confirmed headliners so far include Doja Cat, Greta Van Fleet, Molly Sandén, TOTO and The Hives.
In addition, Summerburst co-founder Anders Boström is partnering with event manager Navid Kabiri and nightclub guru Samin Adjoudani to launch Drömmen – a one-day celebration of Eurovision and schlager music – at Stockholm Olympic Stadium on 25 May. Plus, promoter One Wknd Only Productions is teaming with Snowman Agency to create two-day music festival Thunderfield in Jönköping from 31 May-1 June.
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All Things Live acquires Sweden’s Big Slap
Pan-Nordic live entertainment company All Things Live has upped its presence in Sweden, acquiring electronic dance music festival Big Slap.
Founded in 2013, Big Slap (15,000-cap.) takes place each year in Tallriken park, Malmö. This year’s event features a live-focused day on Friday 31 July, with acts including Black Eyed Peas, Bad Bunny, Rita Ora, Wizkid and Stefflon Don, and an EDM day on 1 August that sees performances from Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike,Timmy Trumpet, Vini Vici and Bob Sinclair.
Big Slap founders have collaborated with the Swedish and Danish entities of All Things Live for years and will join the team to run the festival, as well as other events in southern Sweden.
“We know the All Things Live team very well and share the ambition of bringing even more great artists and shows to the Nordics,” comments Big Slap co-founder Ali Eftekhari.
“We are excited to join forces with our colleagues in All Things Live as we aim to expand the footprint in southern Sweden by drawing on the partnership’s strong international reach, exceptional network among world class artists, and its financial strength.”
“We are excited to join forces with our colleagues in All Things Live as we aim to expand the footprint in southern Sweden”
Backed by Dutch private-equity firm Waterland, All Things Live was borne out of the merging of six leading Scandinavian promoters and agencies – ICO Concerts and ICO Management and Touring (Denmark), Maloney Concerts and Blixten & Co (Sweden) and Friction and Atomic Soul Booking (Norway) – since adding Finland’s Weekend Festival and Norway’s Stand Up Norge to the portfolio.
“Big Slap Festival is an amazing addition to the All Things Live family, and our teams in Denmark and Sweden look forward to developing their existing relations and drive further growth in the combined business,” says Kim Worsøe, CEO of All Things Live Group.
“The expansion will benefit artists, audiences, suppliers and our partners as we improve our ability to serve them and explore the opportunities across the Nordic markets.”
All Things Live has more than 100 employees, represents more than 200 artists and promotes more than 4,000 events a year across Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway.
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