Allsång på Skansen Reflektioner kring populärmusik, tradition och immateriella kulturarv

Allsång på Skansen (Sing-a-long at Skansen) is an entertainment held at Skansen since the 1930s. The show consists of an audience singing together under the supervision of a sing-a-long conductor. The program is very popular and shown on television. This article investigates how this event contributes to the intangible cultural heritage. A review of the music performed at Allsång på Skansen displays a range of music both anchored in Skansen s own history as a music venue and at the same time mirroring a present popular music scene. The program contributes to a knowledge of past time songs sung in Swedish. As such it backs a Swedish popular music heritage. This should not be mistaken for Swedish music, instead it displays music rooted in an Anglo-American tradition that has been framed into a Swedish setting. The study shows how the first years worked as a blueprint for establishing a tradition, even though it was not labeled as such until the early nineties. From the seventies, it is noticeable that a mayor part of the sing-a-long songs are selected from a time period some thirty years ago. This gives way for a popular musical heritage that stems roughly one generation back in time.