The third weekend in July
Åsele market
Four days when a town of 1 633 inhabitants receives more visitors than Umeå has residents. Around 200 stallholders on about 900 market pitches, a funfair, concerts, folkrace and auctions, and a history that begins in 1648.
What happens
The stallholders set up in the heritage area and the streets around it. Performers play on the stage every evening, and over the years names such as Hep Stars, Cornelis Vreeswijk and Ulf Lundell have stood there. Around the market a programme grows each year: folkrace (a form of banger racing), cross-country runs, bike shows, magic, crafts and auctions. The programme is published by the organiser at aselemarknad.se, and we link there rather than copy it.
The market office is at Lillgatan 2 in Kulturhuset, phone 070-346 12 64, email [email protected]. That is where stallholders, performers and anyone wanting to let out accommodation should turn.
The history
Åsele was a Sámi trading place long before there was a church. The first one was built in 1648, and the market counts its beginning from that year. It was held in winter, usually in January, because the roads were too poor for heavy loads in summer. So it continued for over two hundred years.
Around the turn of the twentieth century the market moved to summer. In the middle of the 1900s it dwindled, until in 1963 the municipality appointed a committee to give it new life. It worked: from the 1960s onwards Åsele market became one of Norrland's great popular festivals. The original winter market lives on in a smaller format in February.
The church cottages that stand along the market street in the heritage area were moved there from Övre torget during the Second World War. Six of them remain, a reminder that the market and the church weekend were once the same thing.
Staying during the market
Åsele Wärdshus and Åsele Camping fill up first. The market keeps its own list of village cottages, community halls and hostels in the villages: Avasjö, Tallsjö, Gafsele, Sörnoret, Borgsjö, Östernoret and Lillögda. ÅIK also opens a temporary campsite near the market ground, first come first served. All with contact details on the accommodation page.
Common questions
- When is Åsele market 2027?
- The market is always held on the third weekend in July, Thursday to Sunday. The exact dates for 2027 are published by the organiser at aselemarknad.se. In 2026 it was held on 17–20 July 2026.
- How big is the market?
- The municipality gives around 200 stallholders on about 900 market pitches, spread across the heritage area and central Åsele. Visitor figures vary between sources: between 100,000 and 150,000 visitors over four days, depending on the source. The organiser calls it the largest popular festival in Norrland.
- Is it really Sweden's oldest market?
- It counts its history from 1648, when Åsele's first church was built at the Sámi trading place, and is described by the municipality as one of Sweden's oldest markets still running. Originally it was a winter market in January, because heavy loads were easier to move on snow. It became a summer market around the turn of the twentieth century, and in the 1960s the municipality appointed a committee that gave it new life.
- Where do you stay during the market?
- The hotel and the campsite in Åsele are booked a year in advance. The market keeps its own list of village cottages, community halls and hostels in the surrounding villages, and ÅIK opens a temporary campsite near the market ground with pitches that cannot be booked in advance. See the accommodation page.
- Does the winter market still exist?
- Yes, as a smaller market in the heritage area in February. In 2026 it was held on 21–22 February 2026. At the end of March comes Åsele-Nappet, the ice-fishing competition on lake Stamsjön.
The information was checked on 21 september 2026 against Åsele municipality, aselemarknad.se and the local heritage society. Dates and programme for the next market always come from the organiser.