31 things to do in Stockholm in October

Hofesh Shechter has choreographed ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ on Broadway and now leads one of the world’s most acclaimed dance companies, based in England. Now he’s back at Dansens Hus with ‘Theatre of Dreams’, a work exploring dreams, fears and desires, featuring 13 dancers and live music composed by Shechter himself.

The work premiered in Paris in 2024 and was nominated for an Olivier Award the following year.

Dansens Hus, Main Stage, Barnhusgatan 12–14. 19.00, also October 2–4. Tickets: SEK 498 via Dansens Hus.

Theme nights are everywhere these days. This autumn alone, Debaser is hosting a noughties night, a ‘Twilight’ rave on Halloween and, back in September, even a ‘Shrek’ rave. It seems a band, a film or a decade is a surer way to fill a dancefloor than simply letting a DJ loose.

Kent is an obvious choice. The band called it quits in 2016, returned for six nights at 3Arena in March 2025, and this year their album ‘Verkligen’ turns 30. From 23.00 to 03.00, expect songs from across their catalogue, from the noisy guitars of their early years to the arena-sized choruses that came later. Expect a singalong.

Debaser Strand, Hornstulls strand 4. 23.00–03.00. SEK 100 early bird, SEK 175 on the door. Tickets via Debaser.

Fotografiska’s ‘Harder Better Faster Stronger – Are Men Ok?’ is all about masculinity. Thirty artists from around the world present photography, film and sculpture, covering everything from looksmaxxing and bar fights to parental leave and wrestling. Herb Ritts’s 1978 portrait of a young Richard Gere hangs in the same exhibition as Johan Bävman’s photograph of a father with his baby.

If you want to get a head start, the opening party takes place the night before, on Friday October 2. From 14.00 on Saturday, you can also hear from some of the artists in a panel discussion.

Fotografiska, Stadsgårdshamnen 22. ‘Harder Better Faster Stronger – Are Men OK?’ runs October 3–February 7. Open daily 10.00–23.00. Admission SEK 195.

Around 100 buildings and places across Stockholm open up for free tours on the first weekend of October, and Sunday is your last chance to take a look. This year’s theme is ‘Our Shared City’, and Sunday’s programme reflects it. Four co-housing developments open their doors, including Färdknäppen and Sjöfarten in Hammarby sjöstad. If you’re after something more unusual, you can step inside the world’s oldest indoor tennis hall, explore the decommissioned reactor hall at KTH Royal Institute of Technology or visit the Nordic region’s only working silk-weaving mill.

Many tours require booking, so check the programme before you go.

Various locations across Greater Stockholm. Friday October 2–Sunday October 4. Free, some tours require advance booking. Programme at openhousestockholm.com.

Sofia Coppola’s debut film ‘The Virgin Suicides’ follows five sisters kept shut away by their strict parents, and the neighbourhood boys who can’t stop thinking about them. A young Kirsten Dunst stars, with a soundtrack by French duo Air.

Bio Rio is screening it just once, on a Monday when most of Stockholm is taking things slow anyway.

Bio Rio, Hornstulls strand 3. Film starts at 18.00. Tickets: SEK 190 via Bio Rio.

‘Heading for the Sea!’ explores the era when sea bathing became fashionable. In the late nineteenth century, seaside resorts sprang up along Europe’s coasts, and artists followed. Monet and Degas painted in Normandy, the Skagen painters in Denmark, while Zorn, Munch and Sigrid Hjertén also feature.

The exhibition grew out of a research project on German seaside resorts and spans the 1870s to 1945. It presents the beach both as a holiday idyll and a place of crowds and confrontation.

Nationalmuseum, Södra Blasieholmshamnen 2. Until February 7. Tuesday–Sunday 11.00–17.00, Thursday 11.00–20.00, closed Mondays. Admission SEK 160.

Engla Li made her debut last November with ‘Slussen’, an indie-pop song about a messy night out around Slussen that makes no attempt to romanticise Stockholm. She has since released ‘Havet’.

Now she’s playing cocktail bar Americain as part of Haymarket Live, the hotel’s new series bringing ten new Swedish artists to the stage over ten Wednesdays. 

You can find the full autumn line-up in Time Out’s piece on Haymarket Live.

Americain, Haymarket by Scandic, Hötorget 13–15. 21.00–22.00. Free entry.

Copenhagen trio Farveblind mix techno, breakbeat, industrial and post-punk, earning a reputation as an explosive live act with shows at festivals including Roskilde and Reeperbahn. Their debut album ‘Micro Pleasures’ arrived in May, mixed by Gustav Brunn, who has also worked with Viagra Boys and Yung Lean. Guests on the record include Elliphant and Django Django.

Hus 7, Styckmästargatan 10, Slakthusområdet. Doors 19.00, show around 20.00. Tickets from SEK 225 via Billetto. Free entry for members.

In December, Leeds band Yard Act took to the stage at Avicii Arena supporting The Hives, at what became the Swedish band’s biggest ever show on home soil. Now they’re back for a headline show of their own, on a much smaller scale.

They’re bringing with them their third album, ‘You’re Gonna Need a Little Music’, released in July and their best yet. Singer James Smith has described the first two records as ‘laptop albums’. This time, the band wrote around 50 songs together in the same room and kept 11, including ‘Empty Pledges’, one of the summer’s biggest post-punk belters.

Kägelbanan, Södra Teatern, Mosebacke torg 1–3. Tickets: SEK 365 via Södra Teatern.

Two days after this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature is announced, you can see a musical about the man behind the prize. ‘Mr. Dynamite – the Man Behind the Nobel Prize’ is written by Andreas Boonstra, with music by Jan-Erik Sääf, and explores the battles behind the creation of the prize.

The idea came from Jonas Nerbe, who also stars in the show. It has its world premiere the Wednesday before and runs until November 15, before heading out on tour in the spring.

Ö2 Scenkonst (the former Boulevardteatern), Götgatan 73. 19.00. Tickets from SEK 150 via Nortic.