The people behind the market

Elina N is head of the Public Unit at Ájtte, the Swedish Mountain and Sámi Museum. This is how she describes her work with the market:

“Ájtte, the Swedish Mountain and Sámi Museum in Jokkmokk has two peak seasons every year. One is the summer months when around 20,000 visitors come to the museum. The other is the winter market week, when almost 10,000 visitors usually find their way into the warmth. Then we are open every day, all week, between 9-18.

We start planning for the next market immediately after we have cleaned up after the market week. We go through what worked well and what we should possibly change. We plan for upcoming exhibitions far in advance, usually already in early spring. On the Wednesday before the market, we have a vernissage for our temporary exhibitions, which then run until May.

One exhibition I would like to mention is part of our permanent exhibition. “Icy Walk” tells the story of the winter market through the centuries. Here you can also experience the cold and northern lights of the Jokkmokk Winter Market all year round!”

Anna-Karin is a cultural secretary for the municipality of Jokkmokk, and is responsible for the music program at Bio Norden and Folkets Hus during the Jokkmokk market.

In 2024, the Culture and Leisure also tried to arrange a mini film festival during the market. She also manages the organizers’ grant that the Culture and Leisure Board gives annually to the market’s many cultural organizers.

–Thanks to the external organizers, there is a diversity of cultural experiences during the Jokkmokk market, and we are so happy that different cultural practitioners want to meet the large market audience with new events every year, says Anna-Karin. The market is planned for a large part of the year and we are happy to help with advice and support.

Magnus Vannar at the street office of the Jokkmokk municipality explains:

“The Jokkmokk market consists of an incredible number of parameters and people that need to interact to make it a pleasant experience. My role as head of sanitation and supervisor at the street office is mostly focused on the physical measures that need to be taken for such a large event to work, in collaboration with several other community functions.

About 1 meter of snow needs to be cleared from an area larger than the Stockholm Globe arena.

The traffic environment that normally only needs to work for a small number of vehicles and the occasional kicksleigh now needs to be able to work for the flow of 1000s of vehicles of all sizes, even if there are several decimeters of snowfall during the market. The latter, however, is not a problem for the snowmobile taxi.

Water, toilets, cleaning and electricity for all visitors and vendors need to be adapted to work, even in 30 degrees below zero temperatures. We also arrange with cozy places, parking and signage, and our magical artist Nicklas designs snow sculptures that adorn and create a genuine pleasant feeling to visit our market.

To help me, I have about 15 fantastic employees who together can fix most things!”

Elina Kuhmunen is the program manager for what happens at Ájtte during the Winter Market. This is how she describes the market:

“Ájtte Museum has a varied program. During the market days, there are queues for the museum shop, museum exhibitions, lectures in the auditorium and music on stage. Outside in the museum park, you can enjoy coffee and cheese, and for many years we have offered drop-in photography in Ájtte’s photo studio – a way to immortalize yourself, often extra dressed up, as a memory of the Winter Market. We also have story times for children.

Planning goes on throughout the year and it’s a big job to get everything together. As it is for most people in Jokkmokk, it is also for Ájtte’s staff, everyone works hard in the weeks before and during the market week! There can be up to 50 different program items at Ájtte.

In 2025, we are planning an exhibition where Ájtte highlights its own collections.”