The Bagpipe Society

Pôsuträffen - The Annual Swedish Bagpipe Meeting

This year, the weekend after midsummer, I attended for the first time the annual meeting of Swedish Bagpipe (Säckpipa) Players. The meeting is an informal gathering at the home and B&B of the hosts, Hans and Gun Rönnegård, , in the small town of Gagnef, set in the beautiful countryside of Dalarna. I arrived there on the Friday afternoon and having received a very warm welcome from Hans and Gun, I very quickly got talking to the other people who had already arrived. I was shown my accommodation, a loft room (Loftet), which housed five people. There was a large wooden table in the middle, covered in Bagpipes made by Börs Anders Öhman, who let me try some of them. He also brought some very nice whiskey to share. Throughout the rest of the evening, other attendees arrived, some I’d met, some I hadn’t, and some I’d only met online prior! It wasn’t long until there was music. The setting lent itself to small circles of pipers forming and naturally one musician will start a tune, and if it’s well known, everyone else will start playing along!

Food was an event every day - the first night was flatbreads and different sausages with sour cream and potatoes. Breakfast was usually porridge with Lingon or applesauce, boiled eggs and flatbreads with a choice of things to put on, all served with very nice coffee. The two main meals of lunch and dinner were always much needed after all the foot-tapping! The first night was filled with impromptu jams, introductions, handshakes, hugs, and a unique raw atmosphere I haven’t experienced at many other events. Sleeping is usually very uneventful- except for the sky being always a little light at this time of year!

The second day was filled with much the same. There were some late arrivals, as well as visits from some other pipers who were only visiting for the day. The Barn began to be used as it was perfect for the very large group jams happening there, sometimes with accompaniment from the resident harmonium. It was also a very good idea to get out of the rain which, thankfully, wasn’t too regular or heavy.

On the Sunday there was a trip to the local museums. First, a small folk museum where Hans and Olle talked about the Swedish bagpipes as well as playing some tunes. The main focus, however, was the so-called Bäsna-Pipa, one of the few sets of Swedish bagpipes which has survived complete with the bag, dating from the 1800s. After this, we had a bagpipe procession, playing some tunes while walking to the next stop, an open-air museum with three very old timber buildings, two from the 1800s and one dating to the 1600s (if I remember right!). There, a folk music demonstration concert was held, with various groups and musicians playing traditional Swedish instruments and tunes. We all played together as a big group, but also my good friend David and I played our historical Swedish bagpipe copies. I had made these, based on the bagpipe from Nås, and it was possibly the first time two historical Swedish bagpipe models had been played together in 150 years, if they ever had been played together!

Later, back at the B&B, those of us who were left staying on one more night, played some tunes here and there on a calm and quiet evenin - but mainly just decompressing after quite an intense and absolutely wonderful weekend filled with good music, good friends, good food, all in a beautiful setting.

For those interested in Swedish bagpipes, it’s an event you must absolutely attend, at least once! But for myself, I will certainly be back.