Ten, nine, eight, seven … soon the countdown for Åsadalen 2026 will be over. In this election year, Åsadalen takes the form of a multi-stage rocket. “An election year sharpens our responsibility to create space for reflection and dialogue,” says Åsa’s principal, Daniel Berton.
On the evening of 27 January, the countdown ends. The public is then warmly invited to Region Sörmland Folk High School in Sköldinge for the first of several events under the Åsadalen umbrella.
Last year’s pilot festival ran for three consecutive days, with a final day aimed at the general public. This year, instead, three open evening events will be held in January, March and April, before the democracy festival concludes with a packed full-day finale in May.
Spreading out the programme items
The purpose of this is to spread Åsadalen’s various programme elements across the spring, while also fostering dialogue between course participants, the local community, politicians and invited experts.
Åsa’s headteacher Daniel Berton says:
– The evening events are a deliberate extension of Åsadalen’s daytime programme. Culture, conversation, music and informal encounters are a central part of popular education. It is often there, off stage, that the most important insights emerge.
That 2026 is an election year makes Åsadalen even more relevant, according to Berton.
“Sharpens our responsibility”
– When the political temperature rises, so too does the need for in-depth conversations beyond slogans and clichés. Åsadalen is not meant to be an election arena in a narrow sense, but a place where democracy is taken seriously, and where ideas, conflicts, culture and questions about the future can meet in an educational context. An election year sharpens our responsibility to create space for reflection and dialogue, he says.
The response to the first edition of Åsadalen was very positive, Berton believes.
Hoping for more visitors
– The only thing we really hope will be better this year is visitor numbers,” he says, adding that the work on the festival programme so far reflects the breadth and depth the planning group is aiming for.
– The programme is still under construction, but the direction is clear: less surface, more depth. We are bringing together academia, popular education, civil society and politics in a way that feels both relevant and meaningful.
He continues:
– If Åsadalen can help strengthen trust in conversation, in education and in participation in democracy, then we have succeeded.
Text: Henrik Wising
Photo: Johanna Gilljam
Åsadalen in the spring
27 January
Free admission, 6 pm: Live jazz and rock with two of the music course’s touring bands, Vindbyn and I Nöd & Lust. Pre-ordered dinner served from 4.45 pm. Exhibition marking Holocaust Memorial Day.
24 March
Free admission, 6 pm: The future of the world of work. Speaker: Roland Paulsen, sociologist and author. Political discussion panel: Monica Johansson (S), Emma Dahlin (M), Thomas Salig (V), Victoria Barrsäter (C). Dinner can be pre-ordered.
21 April
Free admission, 6 pm: Truth and lies in the election campaign. Speaker: Erik Fichtelius, journalist and author. Discussion panel to be announced shortly. Dinner can be pre-ordered.
The programme for the final day on 23 May is continuously updated at asadalen.se.
