Festival for the protection of old-growth forests
16-19 July 2026, Skogsnäs, Ångermanland

Forest friends!

Come and celebrate the forests we saved,
Come and mourn the forests we have lost.

‘Days and Nights for the Forest‘ is a festival for the whole family – a meeting place to share knowledge and spread joy and commitment in the continued fight for all life in the forest.

The festival is an arrangement of Living Älvdal in collaboration with Protect the Forest and the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation in the High Coast-Ådalarna with support from the Maria and Eric Strangell Foundation for Nature and Animal Conservation.

16-19 July 2026
The festival opens with an opening at 6 pm on Thursday 16/7, and ends at 5 pm on Sunday 19/7.

NiOki Beats

NiOki Beats was named Best Folk Music of the Year by P2 and was nominated
for Newcomer of the Year at the World Music Gala 2025. NiOKi Beats strikes a blow for the environment and humanity. They yoik and drum for the respect of the ancient ceremonies to the earth.

Two strong forces meet. NiOKi Beats consists of Nina Nordvall Vahlberg and Kristina Aspeqvist. On stage, joik, goabdes (Sami drum) and a variety of percussion are performed live in exciting masks/costumes to a sea of beats, experimental electronic sounds and suggestive rhythms. NiOKi Beats takes the joik into the future and offers musical arrangements with choreography and humor.

Nina Nordvall Vahlberg (joik, accordion, flute and goabdes), is a Sámi musician/composer/educator based in Jokkmokk. He has written music for his own bands: Jodasan, Spår av Jojk, Dåbddu vuohkasin and Nordvalls-Jojken.

Kristina Aspeqvist (vocals, percussion and production) is a musician and composer for several bands, such as Stockholm Vodou Orchestra, which she leads and writes all music for. For many years, Kristina has researched Ghanaian traditional religions, with associated dance, music and ceremonies, which have inspired much of her creation.

Both are composers and have worked together for 30 years. The world of sound is large, powerful, adventurous; The songs are about the elements, the ancestors, mountains, forests, plants, animals.

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OP & Isabella – Earth Creation

A musical collision of the masculine and feminine. With roots and upbringing from Stockholm, the couple now spends time in the deep forests and the collective Skogsnäs. Who knows what kind of music will be born from this place…

We invite you to a unique gig with a great initiative and purpose behind it. The forest and the earth must be respected and protected!

Hip hop, soul and backbeat will be felt in our vibration. Let the healing power of music inspire change!

The Kelo Collective

The Kelo collective likes to gather in the hidden corner of the Taiga for curious tours with a magnifying glass and mirror, as well as a variety of forest disco, ant trampling and industrial techno.

Kotten Urskogsson

Kotten Urskogsson is a fiddler creature who weaves his fairy tales and songs together with the forest’s wondrous network of life. Kotten has a third ear that listens to the fairy tales and songs that want to be created in the moment. When Kotten has put himself into a “fairytale trance”, he lets the dizziness rule, plucks the words down on earth and weaves them together into simple fairytale compositions. Most often, the gigs take place during impromptu explorations together with the audience.

Songs from the forest

Kamilla Sol & Elias Grind invite you to a musical journey through the mystery of the forest, where the audience is also invited to co-create.

A soundscape where poetry and songs are allowed to flow out of nature and our love for the forest.

Kamilla Sol

Kamilla Sol weaves song and music with soundscapes from and for the forest. Inspired by travels in South America and Scandinavia, we get to follow a fairytale interpretation of Nature from a forest creature’s perspective.

Ecophilosophy with Linda Ellegaard Nordström

Ecophilosophy – lecture and conversation

Ecophilosophy aims to provide different perspectives on the cultural roots of environmental and future issues. Listen to a lecture on the subject and take part in conversations where we ask in-depth questions to try to understand the major crises of our time. In what way are views of nature and people connected to biodiversity loss and climate change? Welcome to join us and think together!

Sit with a tree

A morning exercise where you are invited to listen, along with a tree. We start together and then sit individually by a tree in silence. Focus on presence in the moment and listening; Maybe you hear the tree, maybe you hear something in yourself.

Linda is a popular educator, folk high school teacher, rebel mother and activist, living in Jokkmokk. With her heart in the forest and her hands in the soil, she cultivates the relationship with the living and food for her children. Linda has taught ecophilosophy and housekeeping at a folk high school, and has been active in Protect the Forest, the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation and several environmental organizations for many years.

Lecture with Christina Åhrén

“In the autumn of 2024, the Ohredahke Sami village will make a unanimous decision to follow the green movement into a fight against the forest industry. Why is the Sámi community making this decision and what has meant for us? To understand that, you have to understand who we are, what we base our values on and where we come from.

I am here to take you into our world, show you the beautiful, the ugly and why today we stand at the abyss and still feel stronger than ever.”

Lecture with Christina Åhrén, Ohredahke Sami village

Lecture with Jon Andersson

“– Just leave us alone and we’ll become a forest, the trees whisper as the wind whispers between the twigs.”

Jon will talk about the temporal links that make an area covered with young trees eventually become a forest and why clear-cutting can never mimic a natural ecosystem. He will also explain why clear-cut forestry is not good for the old forests, even though the gentler methods are better than clear-felling and why clear-cut forestry can be more beneficial in younger forests.”

Jon Andersson was born and raised in Västerbotten and works at Protect the Forest. He is a GIS expert, forester, conservationist and Ph.D. in biology. He is also one of the creators of Skogsmonitor, and recently received the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation’s Forest Prize together with his colleague Viktor Säfve.

Film: Paperwork

In a forest in southern Sápmi, a group of students, activists, social workers and biologists will seize a forest machine and hold it hostage. Welcome to the forest rebellion and meet the volunteers who have decided to take matters into their own hands to stop clear-cutting, in solidarity with Ohredahke Sámi village.

Short documentary with The Forest Rebellion by Francis Rogers.
40 min

Lecture on the fight for the Bloodstone Forest

Experiences from the battle for the Bloodstone Forest, and comparisons with forest occupations elsewhere in Europe.

Is there any hope for Avgrundsdalen by the Oslo Fjord? Does the method have a future in Sweden and Sapmi?

Lecture/workshop with Skogsupproret

The Forest Rebellion is known for stopping forest machines. Why do we use such methods to protect the forest and support the Sámi people’s fight for their rights?

We want to talk about the importance of resistance to change society. How can we come together and organize to protect what we love and stand up to those in power?

Children’s theatre: Flower party

An experiential theatre where we work with all the senses!

Here we get to follow the story of when the noble red rose meets the misunderstood thistle and the cheerful, rebellious navvy rose. It is an imaginative, sensual and exploratory performance about flowers and plants.

The children can step into the magical garden and choose a lush seat, inside the walls of our beautiful green tent. There, the fairy tale is woven with puppetry, live music, dance and movement, as well as storytelling and the children’s own participation.

Skogsnästeatern comes with fairy tales and wanderings from marshes and bogs. With puppetry and live music, they carry alternative perspectives directly from the sparsely populated areas of inner Ångermanland, with the message that we should protect nature and take care of the little ones.

Cyanotopy (solar photograph with plants)

Pick twigs, leaves and flowers. With these and other fun things that we can find around us, we will create beautiful prints using the light of the sun. Activity suitable for all ages.

Workshop: screen printing

Come and print your own Days and Nights for the Forest logo on the garment you have brought. Bring something that you want to decorate with a new design, a sweater, pants, bag or fun fabric. There will also be pre-printed shirts and patches for sale.

Workshop/conversation:
Build a Forest Defense

The grassroots movement is the very foundation of the fight for the Swedish old-growth forest. In part one of this workshop, we go through some of the tools that are viable today: how to inventory species, write reports, appeal and network. Leading this conversation are Kim from Skogsvärn Skogsnäs/Levande Älvdal and Daniel from Skogsvärn Näsåker/Protect the Forest.

In part two, we all share our experiences and think about what strategies we may need in the future. The focus is on grassroots activation.

Inventory course (Friday morning)

The course will be divided into two: one for beginners and one for more experienced. We will visit a nice unprotected old-growth forest near Skogsnäs. There we will get acquainted with a wide range of conservation species and learn more about the dynamics and diversity of natural forests.

Bring coffee. We carpool from Skogsnäs, about 30 minutes travel.

Workshop with Friends of the Earth: How you can influence politics in your municipality

Gabriel Ulvros has been active in several committees within Friends of the Earth with political influence, both locally, nationally and at EU level. He leads a conversation where he shares experiences of what has worked and what different ways there are to go about it, with a focus on municipal politics.

We will go through things like how to make citizen proposals and write motions, get local referendums, reach out to local media, start a campaign or join an already existing one, contact politicians and ally with them, produce material and information, get others to become active, participate in consultations, shape opinions, and more. Participants are encouraged to share their own experiences of successful campaigns, but also what has not worked well, so that others do not have to make the same mistakes again.

Getting here

Skogsnäs is located by the Fjällsjö River in northern Ångermanland, about seven kilometers northeast of Ramsele (see map).

Public transport in sparsely populated areas is unfortunately substandard, but if you are adventurous and flexible, it is possible to get to Skogsnäs by bus from Ramsele (line 378) on Friday. The stop is called Strömnäs (Sollefteå). However, the trip must be pre-booked, more information on the county transport DinTur.se. Unfortunately, no buses run during the weekend.

Feel free to use our Facebook group “Days and Nights for the Forest” to offer or find forest friends to carpool with.

Ticket

Festival pass: 350 SEK (seniors 250 SEK)
1-day ticket: 200 SEK (pensioners 150 SEK)
Children under 18 years free of charge.

Book a ticket by paying via Levande Älvdal’s swish number: 123 663 75 65

You can also book tickets by email: don@skyddaskogen.se. Provide your name and contact information, and we will return payment information. Or call Daniel on 076 – 112 88 26.

Campsite for tent is included in the price. There are shower facilities in the area, and clean bathing water is offered in the Fjällsjö River, which flows next to the village. Skogsnäskollektivet will have both food and coffee for sale.