Culture and lifestyle
Dalarna is the heart and soul of the Swedish folk tradition. Many of the symbols you might think typically Swedish is deeply rooted in Dalarna: Midsummer celebrations, red-painted cottages, the gorgeous folk costumes, foot-tapping folk music and – of course – the Dala horse.
There are many cultural attractions in Dalarna and some of them have to be on your Dalarna ‘bucket list’. One is joining a Midsummer celebration with dance around the May pole in any town or village in Dalarna at the end of June. Another has to be a visit to the Falun Copper Mine and surroundings, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The profits from the copper extracted here helped Sweden to become a major European power back in the 17th and 18th centuries. And the famous ‘Falu red’ colour that half of all the houses in Sweden are painted in, comes from the mine as well. Take the underground tour and visit the Mine Museum, you won’t regret it.
Other cultural highlights in Dalarna include homes of world-famous local artists Carl Larsson and Anders Zorn. The Zorn Museum and the Zorn-gården in the town of Mora, and the Carl Larsson-gården in Sundborn just outside Falun. For open-air concerts head for the acoustically superb Dalhalla open-air concert venue near Rättvik. The setting, in a disused quarry, is as spectacular as the acoustic sounds.
