The vendors have reclaimed the main street in Jokkmokk
The temperature dropped below -20 the other day, and it has stayed there ever since. The car was a bit slow to start in the morning. The tree structure of our house is complaining by exploding sounds, and our cat refuse to go outside. Everything is as one could expect around the time of Jokkmokk winter fair.
Usually I try to visit some of the lectures offered during the fair, but this time we went only to have a look at the spectacle. About 47.000 people visited the fair this year. 46.848 to be exact, according to the Swedish Road Administration, who measured the traffic between 5 -7 February. Visitors during the Historical Market 2 -4 February were not included in the numbers.
If you are thinking of going to the Winter Fair in Jokkmokk, the Historical Market would probably be more interesting than walking with thousands of other people between stalls selling cheap plastic and candy during the “real” market. Of course, to be honest, you can find other things too like clothes, smoked reindeer, pelts and knives. And traditional Laotian and Thai food!
Historically the fair used to be a place where the nomadic Sami met ones a year to buy supplies, sell their products, meet friends and pay taxes. The Historical Market is something of a remake of those days, to show how it might have looked like. These days I suspect the only thing the reindeer herders actually buy at the fair, is plastic ropes to be used at the reindeer round-ups. The wendors weren’t excited about the competion of a Historical Market when it started a few years ago, so that’s the reason you can’t experince both of them at the same time. But I hope they will rethink this in the future.
But the fair is still a place to meet people. I met a friend of mine and his wife down by the Talvatis-lake, as I do every year, and my wife and daughter got a ride with their dogsled. I’m starting to recognize many of the artists and wendors too selling their stuff at their regular spots every year. We also stopped for a short chat with a Japanese girl from Stockholm selling natural herbs and related products. I bought a DVD with Laila Spik. She tells about natural remedies and food used historically in the traditional Sami life.
The temperature was pretty cold all day, and it was necessary to wiggle one’s toes and fingers all the time to avoid the cold. Even though I used two pairs of thick gloves and winter boots with two layers of socks. Towards the end of our visit the wind started to blow. Nothing much, just a gentle breeze, but that was enough to freeze our faces to ice.
Tags: Historical Market, Jokkmokk, Winter Fair
I’ve been in Jokkmokk only 1 time, but it was enought to feel sririt of a small swedish town. Nice houses, shops and the museum…
I also remember the photographer. He called him self as “Sarek”. Extremely nice pictures!
Edvin “Sarek” Nilsson is a famous photographer and lecturer living in Jokkmokk. He is now in his 80’s and is mostly famous because of his pictures from Sarek national park.
Jokkmokk is a cultural center for the Sami, but during the summer it is not as evident as during the winter fair.