Sweden's largest car event is underway – two of the country's largest car meets have rolled into Lidköping and Västerås. Tens of thousands of car enthusiasts mean a significant boost to the cities' coffers.
In Lidköping, Power Big Meet is being held, which calls itself "the world's largest car meet". The meet was held in Västerås from 1987 to 2016 but then moved to Lidköping, and Summer Meet started and took its place in Västerås.
Both car meets gather those interested in American cars and the accompanying culture, including pin-up competitions and cruising through the cities.
It's a major social event for the whole family, often with three generations attending. I'd say it's 80 percent social and 20 percent about the vehicles, says Kjell Gustafsson, founder of Power Big Meet, which is being held for the 45th time.
18 miles for the 18th year in a row
Summer Meet is one of the largest events held in Västerås annually. It engages both residents and visitors and gathers car enthusiasts from around the world.
You can count on 50,000-60,000 people coming to Västerås, so it's a people's festival with lots of activities, says Klas Brink, founder and organizer of Summer Meet.
One of them is Mikael Ståhl from Hällefors, who has traveled 18 miles to visit the car meet in Västerås for the 18th time.
— It's the sense of community that makes you come back and meet people from all over Europe.
Competing for the same weekend
Even though the car meets themselves take place outside the city, it becomes a people's festival in the center. There are no figures on how much the events affect the cities, but both in Västerås and Lidköping, they see a significantly increased turnover.
It generates a local economy, both from locals and visitors, says Sofie Lidholm, development manager at Visit Västerås.
Summer Meet is slightly smaller than its predecessor was during its heyday, she says.
During Power Big Meet, visitors booked their accommodations for next year already when they left, and we don't see that trend anymore. But it's probably because more large car meets have emerged, and some are loyal and prefer to go to Lidköping while others prefer to be in Västerås.
Full booking at hotels
In Lidköping, it's fully booked and hard to find accommodations.
It's a fantastic event where hotels, campsites, gas stations, and restaurants have a significantly higher turnover, says Anna Ohlin Ek, CEO of Destination Läckö-Kinnekulle.
It's an arrangement that engages both locally, nationally, and internationally. Anna Ohlin Ek believes that about 50 percent of the local population loves it and engages, while the others' interest is "varied".
Others might choose to go on vacation just this week.
Power Big Meet and Summer Meet started on Thursday and will continue until Saturday.
