Access All Areas June 2018 | Page 36

Gothenburg’ s event virtues

“ Gothenburg was built for events,” Stefan Gadd, corporate communications, Goteborg & Co tells Access.“ At least it’ s easy to get that impression when you look at how the city is planned with big open spaces as well as arenas conveniently located in the centre.”

Heden. A large open space just between the city’ s main boulevard, Avenyn, and Ullevi Stadium are good examples of this. In summer, this is the playing ground for Gothia and Partille Cup, the world’ s largest youth tournaments in football and handball respectively. Whenever a world event is hosted at Ullevi, Heden is used for side-events and shows. Slottsskogen Park, Gothenburg’ s equivalent to Hyde Park, is also a worthy outdoor event spot with the annual music festival Way out West taking place, as well as a number of other events.“ This is

also where runners in the world’ s largest halfmarathon sets off for the 21 kms in May,” says Gadd.

The Garden Society, across from the Central Station, is one of the best-preserved 19th century parks in Europe, meanwhile. Apart from being a popular spot for the Gothenburgers, this summer it hosts artists including Van Morrison and Graham Nash.

The harbour area Frihamnen is also a popular event area. Across the river from the Opera House, it is a club area for Stay out West in August. In June its huge pier will be an event area for Volvo Ocean Race.

This year’ s big events

• Volvo Ocean Race: 14-18 June

• Way Out West: 9-11 August

• EuroPride and Gothenburg Culture Festival: 14-19 August

• Nordea Masters: 16-19 August

Gothenburg facts & figures

Area: 448 km2 Founded: 1621 Population:( city of Gothenburg): 564,039( Gothenburg region): 1, 012,569 Average temperature: January- 1.0 Celsius, July + 18.8 Celsius Largest private companies: Volvo Cars, Volvo Trucks, Chalmers, SKF, PostNord, Astra Zeneca, Samhall, Ericsson, Essity, Saab Green space per citizen: 274 m ² Museums: 20 Fish and shellfish sold each week at the Gothenburg fish auction: 100 tons Public transport trams: 263 Tram lines: 12 Bicycle lanes: 810km Opera house: 1 Symphony orchestra: 1 Bed nights at hotels in the Gothenburg region: 4,780,249

Pocket sized passion: Gothenburg event facts

• The events district, not far from the main boulevard Avenyn( Kungsportsavenyn), is home to Ullevi stadium, Scandinavium arena, the Swedish Exhibition and Congress Centre( Svenska Mässan), Liseberg amusement park, Universeum Science Discovery Centre and the Museum of World Culture( Världskulturmuseet), which between them attract over six million visitors annually.

• Regular fixtures include major cultural events, such as; the Göteborg Film Festival, the Gothenburg culture festival( Göteborgs kulturkalas), the Gothenburg Book Fair( Bok & Bibliotek), the International Science Festival( Vetenskapsfestivalen) and the music festivals Way Out West and Summerburst.

• There are also plenty of annual sport events; such as the Gothenburg Horse Show, Göteborgsvarvet half marathon, Gothia Cup and Partille Cup.

• In 2021 the city will celebrate its 400-years anniversary, launching the sustainable city project River City Gothenburg.

Event history

The first big music event at Ullevi was a Rolling Stones concert in 1982, with the first big sporting event being the 1992 European Football Championship.

Gothenburg has subsequently hosted numerous large events, the biggest being the 1995 World Athletics Championships, followed by the European Championships in 2006 and the 2013 Indoor European Athletics Championships( the first event of this size to be all sustainably arranged).

Furthermore, the World Figure Skating Championship 2008 was held in Gothenburg.