Friday, September 12 | 2025
Have you heard of special food days such as fettisdagen, våffeldagen or even kanelbullens dag? As a newbie myself, finding out that such days exists just amazes me! Traditionally, there are various types of sweet stuff that are consumed by Swedes on certain days throughout the year.
Fettisdagen – the Swedish cream bun day
It is also known as Fat Tuesday in Sweden. Swedes eat a bun called semla on this day. It’s basically a cardamom scented bun filled with almond paste or mandelmassa and whipped cream. When the day approaches, you will notice that almost all bakeries and supermarkets will be stocking up on semlor (plural form for semla) buns.
Since February is over, you will have to wait until 28th February 2017 but usually you do not need to wait that long to have your first bite of this bun as bakeries will start making them weeks or even months ahead of the actual day for all the semlor addicts out there.
Våffeldagen – the waffle day
Våffeldagen is rather self-explanatory. It simply means waffle day which is celebrated on 25th March every year. Even though you can find waffles in most cafés throughout the year, this is just another reason to indulge in this carb filled dessert throughout the day. Waffles are usually eaten with a variety of spreads in other countries, but in Sweden, you will have them served with jam or sylt (in Swedish) and whipped cream.
Kanelbullensdag – the cinnamon bun day
If you have been in Sweden for a while now, you will notice that there are cinnamon buns everywhere. You can find them in your local bakery or supermarket to your local Pressbyrån. Cinnamon buns are a classic that is typically served during fika. This classic fikabröd is so popular that cinnamon buns now have an official Cinnamon Bun Day which falls on 4th October. The good thing is that one will never run out of cinnamon buns to eat simply because you live in Sweden. Have you ever wondered if baking kanelbullar was a requirement to operate a café?
Lucia Dagen – the saffron bun day
Besides the movie sessions, there’s a lot more to enjoy during the festival. Red carpets are common on movie premieres, the first time a movie is shown in either Sweden or the world (Swedish or world premieres). Q&As (question and answer) after the movies are also frequent, with the presence of some of the actors or the production team. During these Q&As the public may ask questions and it’s a great opportunity to see celebrities. Last year I saw Alicia Vikander at the premiere of Euphoria and this year I saw Pernilla August at the Britt-Marie var här premiere and Mads Mikkelsen getting the honorary Dragon award.
Lucia Dagen is celebrated on 13th December. The Swedes celebrate Lucia because it is the start of longer days. So what do you eat on Lucia Dagen? Lussekatter, of course! Lussekatter or commonly known as saffron buns which are usually shaped of a reverse – S. The most important ingredient of this bun is saffron which is basically what gives the bun its natural yellow colour. These buns are traditionally eaten during Advent and all the way until Lucia Day.
So what are you newbies waiting for? Go out and grab your yummy pastry today!
Written by Yen Ling Lee
I’m Yen Ling and I am originally from Malaysia and have been living in Stockholm for the past 2½ years. I love to travel and I love food. Therefore, I travel to places for good food. When I am not working in my kitchen, I try to hit the gym as often as possible or go out for a run while enjoying the lovely Swedish air.
