How to visit Jokkmokk Market

Jokkmokk Winter Market in Northern Sweden is 'the' Winter Sami festival in Northern Lapland. Try combining it with a stay at the Treehotel and a Swedish ski lodge...

Have you considered visiting the Jokkmokk Winter Market during your winter Lapland holiday? This festival has run for over 410 years and whilst this does seem amazing, it is highly addictive and the locals travel from across Lapland to visit this annual market. It celebrates all that is Sami with reindeer races, reindeer stews & hamburgers and fashion parades & local activities such as pole climbing. This Winter Market was first held in 1605, following a request from King Karl XI, who sought to exert control over trading in Lappmarken in order to collect taxes for the Kingdom.

You can visit this weekend market with a bit of careful and early planning. The market is run from the first Thursday of February each year and accommodation books out early in the immediate area. Situated just north of the Polar Circle and with a population a little over 2,000, the small town of Jokkmokk is a tranquil gem on the border of Laponia, the only combined nature- and cultural heritage site in Scandinavia.

Jokkmokk is located in the heart of Swedish Lapland and so, it is well positioned to add another unique stay during your visit. Only an hour from Harads, we can add a stay at the famous Swedish Treehotel. Why not stay in the UFO cabin or the Bird's Nest? Our Independent Aurora tour through Swedish Lapland staying at the Treehotel and ICEHOTEL offers the best of the Swedish Lapland and can be tailor-made to visit the Jokkmokk Market.

You can also head out for a 5 day Dogsledding tour across the Swedish Wilderness. Drive your own team of Alaskan huskies through the beautiful Swedish Lapland, Kirjesålandet Nature Reserve. This reserve is part of the Vindelfjällens Nature Reserve which covers 5500 square kilometres of astounding nature and is the largest Nature reserve in Europe. Just three hours from Jokkmokk, we can transfer you to this region and you can join one of the most unique adventures in our region.

And don't forgot, being high above the Arctic Circle away from artificial light so fingers crossed; the Northern Lights will dazzle you in the evenings.

Photograph credit: Fredrik Broman (http://humanspectra.com/)