=How North2North Turned a Music Competition into a Canadian/Swedish Family at Lilla By Festivalen 2026

Long before the first note rang out across the fields of Rinkaby, Sweden something remarkable was already taking shape.

Artists from across Canada arrived on different flights, converging by train in Kristianstad before being warmly welcomed by Lilla By Festivalen co-founder Jonas Tancred. From there, they travelled together to the picturesque Baltic Sea cabins in Åhus, where the Canadian delegation would make its home for the next four unforgettable days.

For many, it was their first visit to Sweden, some even Europe. For others, it was a welcome return. Yet within hours, any sense of being strangers had quietly disappeared.