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Celebrating a Year of Umgås: Our Favorite Stories

As we continue to celebrate our first birthday, we’re taking a look back at our favorite stories of the year. Some were quite popular with you; others didn’t gain as much traction, but we thought they deserved a second look.

We went through our archives of more than 250 stories and whittled it down to our Top 25 Favorite Stories of the Year (in no particular order). Enjoy!

• Meet the Man Who Brought Organized Kubb to America – One of our early stories takes a look at the lawn game kubb and Eric Anderson, who started a national championship here in the States.

• Viking Lingerie? Meet the Swedish Designer Who’s Making Women Feel Like Warriors – Anton Hörnfeldt has a talent for designing intimate apparel. His Viking-themed project caught our attention.

• This Woman Created a Swedish Folk Dress Out of IKEA Bags – Heidi Mattson turned IKEA bags into fashion.

• Q&A with Swedish Cycling Superstar (and Silver Medalist) Emma Johansson – Shortly after the Rio Olympics and before the World Championships, silver medalist Emma Johansson fielded our questions.

• Swedish vs. American Candy (VIDEO) – one of several videos we produced, some of our staff and their friends taste-tested candies from Sweden and America.

• Let Us Eat Cake, Princess Cake – We prepared a nice little feature on the Swedish delicacy.

• 5 Ways You Secretly Might Be Swedish – Our readers made this the most popular story of the year.

• The Incredible Rise of Magnus Nilsson – One of our foodies recapped how the Swedish chef became a household name.

• Having the Time of Their Lives – Arrival from Sweden is one of the world’s most popular tribute bands. And why not? They honor the music of ABBA.

• Rekorderlig Looks to Grow in U.S. – Swedish cider Rekorderlig is increasing its distribution footprint in the United States.

• Swede Kristina Paltén Runs Across Iran – Meet the Swedish woman who challenged herself – and her prejudices – by running across Iran.

• Catching Up: Jenny Ljungberg, Owner of c/o The Maidstone – This Scandinavian-inspired boutique hotel in The Hamptons is on our wish list.

• Svenskamerika – Minnesota – Another one of our most popular stories, here’s a look at the state half a million ethnic Swedes call home.

• The NOLA Nightingale from Gotland – Theresa Andersson, who’s appeared on Conan O’Brien and Craig Ferguson, answered our questions about her musical career.

• Northern Sweden Boasts Prime Vantage Point for Northern Lights Adventure – Enjoy the beautiful sights of the Northern Lights in Sweden.

• The Swedish Tobacconist Pop-Up – While in New York, we dropped in on a new pop-up store.

• Catching Up: Bruce Karstadt, President of the American Swedish Institute – The leader of the ASI for more than 25 years has made an impact.

• When Swedish and California Cuisines Collide – We had a chance to enjoy – and enjoy we did – food from Pläj in San Francisco.

• Good on Everything but Eggs: Livia’s Seasoning Salt Embraces Its Swedish Heritage – We’ve tried it, and Livia’s is a nice addition to lots of foods.

• Sabina Ddumba: The New Queen of Swedish Soul Music – It’s only a matter of time before Sabina Ddumba makes it big.

• New Podcast Shines Light on Stockholm – Journalist Maddy Savage started a podcast series called The Stockholmer.

• A Very Swedish Accordion Player – Ellen Lindstrom is the face and beloved accordion player of The Swedish Meatballs, which plays Scandinavian events and festivals.

• Dish: A Bite of Sweden in Virginia Beach – Carina Boqvist Bergdoll opened Dish, which has been serving up Swedish cuisine a couple blocks from the oceanfront.

• The Art of Sweding – Want to make movies but don’t have the money? Try Sweded films.

• Sweden’s Saturday Sweet Tooth – We love candy, and so do the Swedes, especially on Saturdays.