| Location(s) | Borlänge, Sweden |
|---|---|
| Years active | 1999 – present |
| Founded by | Föreningen Peace & Love |
| Date(s) | 3 days, in June/July(6 days including theme days) |
| Genre | Rock music, Pop, Hip Hop, Metal, World music, Swedish music |
| Website | www.peaceandlove.nu |
Peace & Love is the largest festival[1] in Sweden and the only one with an outspoken message of Solidarity, Diversity and Understanding[2], which runs through the whole event. It started in 1999 and is located in Borlänge, Sweden. The festival is a part of an organization which is involved in other projects besides the festival in Borlänge.
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The concept of the Peace & Love festival is to spread the message of Diversity, Solidarity and Understanding. It’s about crossing borders and bringing differing cultures from near and afar together and trying to get people to change their attitudes towards themselves and others.
The Peace & Love festival was first held in 1999, as a reaction to the ongoing violence. The first festival was held at a club in central Borlänge, with about 900 attendees. Since then the festival has been held at different locations i central Borlänge. The Peace & Love festival is still one of Scandinavia's fastest-growing festivals. In 2006 there were 15,000 visitors per day, with over 37,000 people attending in total. The 10th Peace & Love festival was in 2008 and had a record of 25000 visitors, which made them the second biggest festival in Sweden.
This year was the big break for the festival. The tickets sold out as early as 23 May, and the festival got a lot of attention in nationwide media. 2008 was celebrated as the tenth festival. Artist that played, amongst others, were Sex Pistols [UK], Manu Chao [FR/ES], Kent, Teddybears, The Wombats [UK], Crystal Castles [CAN]. As a late surprise Roky Ericson and the nomads was announced.
The festival was held between 22 June and 27 June. This year Peace & Love became Sweden's biggest festival with 41 685 tickets sold. Some of the bigger bands and artists were: Mötley Crüe [US], The Kooks [UK], Volbeat [DK], Milow [BE], Keane [UK] Thåström and Håkan Hellström.
In 2010, the event took place between June 28 and July 3 - the same weekend as other major scandinavian festivals Roskilde Festival and Hove Festival. The festival broke that record yet again, selling 42 000 tickets. This year, amongst others, Jay-Z, Lily Allen, Patti Smith, The Kooks and Kent played.
| 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dates: 5 - 6 augusti | Dates: 4 - 5 augusti | Dates: 3 - 4 augusti | Dates: 5 - 6 juli | Dates: 4 - 5 juli | Dates: 8 - 10 juli |
| Number of days: 2 | Number of days: 2 | Number of days: 2 | Number of days: 2 | Number of days: 2 | Number of days: 3 |
| Visitors: 900 | Visitors: 2 500 | Visitors: 3 000 | Visitors: 3 500 | Visitors: 8 500 | Visitors: 10 000 |
| Artists: | Artists:
Thåström |
Artister: | Artists: | Artists: | Artists:
Motörhead [UK] |
| 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
| Dates: 8–9 juli | Dates: 4 - 8 juli | Dates: 26 - 30 juni | Dates: 23–28 juni | Dates: 22 - 27 juni | Dates: 28 juni - 3 juli |
| Number of days: 2 | Number of days: 5 | Number of days: 5 | Number of days: 6 | Number of days: 6 | Number of days: 6 |
| Visitors: 10 000 | Visitors: 15 000 | Visitors: 20 000 | Visitors: 25 000 | Visitors: 41 685 | Visitors: 42 000 |
| Artists: | Artists:
Patti Smith [US] |
Artists:
Iggy & The Stooges [US] |
Artists:
Sex Pistols [UK] |
Artists:
Mötley Crüe [US] |
Artists:
Jay-Z [US] |
Each year, Peace & Love focuses on a subject that the festival organizers want their visitors to reflect about. Earlier the days, then called theme days, took place the days before the music festival. Now it is called Peace & Love Forum and is incorporated with the music festival.
Past years' themes
2004 - Freedom of Speech
2005 - Environment
2006 - Democracy
2007 - Revolution
2008 - Wake Up!
2009 - Passion
2010 - Freedom
2011 - Courage, hope and love [3]
Over the years, foreign artists such as Patti Smith, New York Dolls, Vitalic, Jay-Z, Tech N9ne, Lily Allen, Them Crooked Vultures, Alice Cooper, Slayer, W.A.S.P. Surkin, NOFX, Ed Harcourt, Vive la Fête, Hanoi Rocks, Motörhead, Cut Copy, and Khonnor have entertained the crowd as well as big Swedish acts such as Familjen, Rootvälta, Den Svenska Björnstammen, Miike Snow, Name The Pet, The Cardigans, Thåström, Håkan Hellström, The Sounds, Mando Diao, Lars Winnerbäck, Ulf Lundell, The Hives, Looptroop, The Hellacopters and Silverbullit, among many others. The band which has played the most often at the Peace & Love festival is Sugarplum Fairy, a rock band from Borlänge whose two singers, Carl and Victor, are younger brothers of Gustaf Norén from the better-known band Mando Diao, also a rock band from Borlänge. Sugarplum Fairy has played every year since 2001.
Some of the bands that have played: