It started sixty years ago.

If music be the food of love….play on! 
Ljungbacka is a small and quaint farmlet below Ryssberget in southern Blekinge, close to Sölvesborg, to be precise Knubbasliden 45, Ebbalycke, Gammalstorp.

I, Stefan Sigfalk – Sandberg, spent many years of a happy childhood on Ljungbacka which belonged to my mother’s parents Anton and Klara Sandberg. Anton and Klara had 10 children on Ljungbacka, 8 of which grew to reach adult age. Anton was a master on his Magdeburg accordion and my childhood’s midsummer nights with dancing around the decorated pole to granddad’s accordion music are a living memory to me. I became a musician myself later, moved abroad early and have spent most of my life playing folk music around Europe and New Zealand. When we were children, we built stages on Ljungbacka and performed various things that we had practised to the villagers who wanted to come. We took 25 öre gate money and those that stood on the small hill across the road and watched us over the fence didn’t have to pay. Those were two simply carpented stages that were built in our childhood’s summers sixty  years ago.

2010 I was given the opportunity to buy Ljungbacka back from a Danish family that had spent numerous years with softly renovating it back to its former glory. In the summer 2011, I spent three weeks building the third Ljungbacka stage together with three professional stage carpenters. Beautiful like a red traditional cottage with white corners and small paned sash windows it represents my childhood’s dream. 2012 there was grass again on the fields around the stage where the forest had reclaimed the land during a whole generation. Under the big oak tree, Ljungbacka was going to get its very own folk music festival!

Sunday 21 Juli 2013!
Then the very first Ljungbacka music day took place. 300 guests honoured us with their presence in Ebbalycke on this warmest day of  summer. We had spontaneous sessions under the chestnut tree by the road and in the garden in front of the house. The house was also  open for all musicians and listeners. The big stage offered great performances, both from booked groups and spontaneous musicians who wanted to perform on stage.

Sunday 20. July 2014!
This was the day for the second festival. On stage we had Asa Jinder, riksspelman, Jonas Otter, Swedish champion in country, Anna Neah Deutgen, a treasured and prominent Swedish singer, Eoli, string quartett from Malmö conservatoire, the Skatelöv Folk-Fiddlers, the Sigfalk family and many others. We welcomed 400 visitors on this beautiful day!

Sunday 19. July 2015
The third festival with, amongst others, CajsaStina Akerström, Elin-Louise & Gustav, Briggen Tre Bröder, Peo Hallberg and Irish Pitch was very successful with 600 visitors! We organised a further parking field and more toilets for 2016!

Sunday 24. July 2016
The fourth festival. We didn't think that we could top the line-up of 2015 but we did....we had a great and well visited festival, again with top musicians. The highlights ofcourse Tim Collins and Gary Shannon from Ireland, they also led a late night session in front of the house that will never be forgotten! Michael Magnusson, Naomi, Fia & Gunnar, B.A.R.K., Bortanvind, Peo Hallberg and Kringel with riksspelman Karin Nordberg all performed great music! The weather was perfect for the fourth time.

Sunday 23. July 2017
The fifth festival, this year with a new carpented wooden dance floor in front of the stage. Ofcourse it was opened by a traditional dance group with traditional costumes, Asarums danslag. The Bow Triplets, my own band with members from Ireland and Germany performed as did Gunnel Mauritzon from Gotland.

Sunday 22. July 2018
The sixth festival with Dönaberga band, all Swedish champions Nils Wiberg and the brothers Pär and Torbjörn Näsbom from Switzerland and the far north of Sweden.
That year we introduced childrens dances on our hexagonal dance stage. Many other musicians contributed to yet another very enjoyable festival. Irish Pitch finished the 2018 festival with a great concert of Irish traditional music and the newly erected musician's lounge proved to be very popular.
The weather was so warm that we had less visitors than other years but our club ended up with a financial plus anyway.

Sunday 21. July 2019.
The seventh festival with musicians like; Jenny Almsenius, who was awarded the Cornelis-prize for young songwriters 2018 and most definitely a rising star, the Näsbom brothers were so popular that they had to promise they'd come again for the second summer. Many more contributed to another great festival. Ofcourse there was dancing again on our open air dance stage and dancing for children. Briggen Tre Bröder finished the programme. We were happy to get by without a financial loss also this year.

2020 and 2021
Cancelled because of covid.

Sunday 24. July 2022
The eighth festival with another great line up! Gitte Pålsson with her Bolivian band Khala Uma is performing Swedish and Bolivian folkmusic and Bülows kvartett plays folkmusic from Dalarna with jazz influence. The quartett Naomi And The Sub Collective from Portugal and Switzerland plays Reggae.  Swedish master fiddler (Zorn) Nils Wiberg will give a concert and Peo will lead the music quiz. Briggen Tre Bröder trio will finish the programme again this summer and the Asarum dance group is also going to be there for yet another traditional dance show.

Sunday 23. July 2023
Last summers festival was a terrific sucsess and the audience stayed onto the very finish at 9.30 pm.
This summers nineth festival should also be a great experience for all our visitors from far and near. Our programme promises entertainment that you will remember for a long time. We hope for decent weather and then nothing shoud be in the way for a lovely nineth festival. Looking forward to seing you there.

Be most welcome on Sunday the 23.th of Juli 2023 and the warmest musical greetings from Stefan Sigfalk – Sandberg 
and all of us in "Ljungbacka's Friends"
     
      

Contakt: bowtriplets@shlink.ch    ph: 0041 79 216 70 04

 

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