Organizers of the Karl-Oskardagarna city festival in Växjö, Sweden, have canceled a planned Saturday performance by the artist Fröken Snusk after she was booked to appear with Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Åkesson.
DR reports that Fröken Snusk was scheduled to perform on Stortorget in the center of Växjö, in Småland in southern Sweden. The annual festival runs this weekend, and the slot has now been pulled.
The reason is that the artist is set to appear earlier in the week with Jimmie Åkesson and his band Åkezzonz. That performance takes place at a Sweden Democrats campaign meeting in Göteborg. Åkesson leads the immigration-critical right-wing party.
Festival organizer Jonatan Blom Ekenberg told Smålandsposten that Karl-Oskardagarna must remain independent. According to DR, Sweden goes to the polls on September 13, and the Sweden Democrats became the second largest party at the previous election.
Fröken Snusk is a music character known for epadunk, a Swedish electronic genre associated with young people who may drive converted cars from the age of 15. The performer always appears in a pink balaclava, and her identity has not been made public. Until last year, the character was fronted by the singer Felicia, who represented Sweden at Eurovision this year.
The artist has stated on Instagram that she has not taken a political position on anything. Producer Rasmus Gozzi, who is behind the act, wrote in a text message to Aftonbladet that the case was handled in a very sad way by the festival. As reported by DR, he added that the act would also have said yes to a booking from another party.
Åkesson criticized the decision on the social media platform X. He wrote that the festival organizer had made a politically independent city festival clearly political. He also noted that the singer Cimberly, who is booked for Karl-Oskardagarna, took part in a Social Democratic May 1 event earlier this year.
Culture minister and replacement act
Sweden’s culture minister, Parisa Liljestrand of the Moderate Party, also criticized the cancellation. Per Aftonbladet, she wrote on Facebook that it would be regrettable if artists in Sweden had to fear expressing political views.
TV4 reported that the Växjö appearance was canceled after Smålandsposten revealed the Sweden Democrats booking, and that the group Raggarligan will take the stage slot instead. According to Omni, the cancellation was a response to the booking rather than to the music itself.
Local restaurateur My Huynh has since booked Fröken Snusk to play at the restaurant Taco Bar in Växjö on the same Saturday. He told Omni that she is a good artist, that everyone is welcome, and that the show has nothing to do with politics. Expressen reported that the replacement concert falls on August 15, during the festival weekend.
Gozzi wrote on Instagram that the past days had been wild, and that it felt especially fun to still meet the Växjö audience.
