2025: A Remarkable Year for Skövde’s City Center – A Diverse Range of Activities and Events Attracted Visitors
During the year, Skövde Citysamverkan project-managed eleven of their own events, and additionally contributed to financing five more events. These activities were conducted in Skövde’s city center for almost 120 days, meaning visitors could experience something almost every third day throughout the year. Highlights included restaurant weeks, Christmas markets, outdoor cinema, bouncy castles, and summer activities – a broad mix of events for both children and adults.
Summer Square: A Record-Breaking Event
Sommartorg, the largest event, attracted 21,400 visitors during the summer, surpassing last year’s 18,000 visits. Over 65 days, children and young people were offered free activities including face painting, crafts, ping pong, skateboarding, hobby horse jumping, and LEGO building. New additions to Sommartorg included the opportunity to play their own video game ”Out of Hand” and the presence of Fritidsbanken throughout the summer.
Innovative New Activities
One of the year’s innovations was a new autumn holiday activity called ”Letter Mystery”. For 14 days, families could use UV flashlights to hunt for hidden letters in the city center – an evening activity inspired by Varberg and Laholm.
A new evening activity was also launched: outdoor cinema in Kyrkparken. Over two evenings, films were shown for both children and adults, with the autumn holiday film being a horror movie.
Additional City Center Initiatives
Beyond events, Citysamverkan also:
- Set up flag displays on Rådhusgatan and Storgatan
- Decorated Kyrkparken with pumpkins and ghosts during autumn holiday
- Helped finance a visitor counter at Hertig Johans Square
- Organized a workshop with Property Owners
- Created an art exhibition in an empty storefront with Kulturarbetscentrum and Rapp Fastigheter
”I am proud that we could offer an event in the city center every third day on average, with nearly half occurring outside the summer season. We see a clear need for accessible and free activities, especially for families with children. Being able to meet that need both day and night, year-round, feels incredibly exciting,” says Emma Edqvist, destination developer at Skövde Citysamverkan/Next Skövde.
”Collaboration is a crucial success factor in developing the city center, but it’s also a long-term effort requiring persistence. In a rapidly changing world, we need both the will and courage to think innovatively to meet residents’ and visitors’ new needs. Skövde Citysamverkan functions as a positive and unifying force where property owners, business, and the municipality collectively discuss our challenges and opportunities,” says Per Alexandersson, CEO of Forshem Fastigheter and member of Skövde Citysamverkan’s steering group.
