{"id":182235,"date":"2026-11-08T15:52:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-08T14:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/?p=182235"},"modified":"2026-11-08T14:40:14","modified_gmt":"2026-11-08T13:40:14","slug":"deltagarrekord-nar-afs-hyllade-gustav-ii-adolf-i-goteborg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/record-attendance-as-afs-honored-gustav-ii-adolf-in-gothenburg\/","title":{"rendered":"Record Turnout as AFS Honored Gustav II Adolf in Gothenburg"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>More than 100 people attended when Alternativ f\u00f6r Sverige celebrated Gustav Adolf Day in Gothenburg on November 6. According to the party, this year\u2019s torchlight procession set a new attendance record\u2014and saw twice as many participants as in previous years.<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Friday evening, November 6, participants gathered at Kopparm\u00e4rra on Kungsportsplatsen to honor Gustav II Adolf, the king who founded Gothenburg in 1621. At 8:00 p.m., the torches were lit, and a silent torchlight procession made its way through downtown Gothenburg to Gustav Adolfs Torg, where the deputy party leader of Alternativ f\u00f6r Sverige (AFS) <strong>Mikael Jansson<\/strong> and party leaders <strong>Gustav Kasselstrand<\/strong> gave a speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"youtube-embed\" data-video_id=\"\"><iframe title=\"Gustav Adolf Day in Gothenburg\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fAt6s1w2wqc?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Over 100 participants\u2014a new record<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to AFS, over 100 people participated in this year\u2019s event, compared to about 50 in previous years. The party\u2019s local chapter in Kungsbacka described the event as \u201dincredibly successful.\u201d The ceremony was also livestreamed on social media, where, according to the party, thousands followed the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During his speech, Mikael Jansson asked the participants a question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2013 <em>Are you prepared to defend Sweden?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The event concluded with the participants singing the national anthem together in front of the statue of Gustav II Adolf in the town square.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Keeps historical traditions alive<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For several years, AFS has organized torchlight processions on Gustav Adolf Day to honor the \u201cWarrior King\u201d (who fell at L\u00fctzen on November 6, 1632) and the founder of Gothenburg, and to carry on an old Swedish tradition. The party emphasizes that this is a way to preserve the memory of Sweden\u2019s history while also drawing attention to issues of national self-determination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A far-left counter-demonstration had been announced under the slogan \u201dAFS out of Gothenburg.\u201d Despite this, the torchlight procession went ahead as planned, with no reports of serious disturbances. The event thus marked yet another year in the tradition that the party has continued to honor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Kasselstrand: \u201dNot Just a Historical Commemoration\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a written statement to Frihetsnytt, Kasselstrand comments on the demonstration in Gothenburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201dI\u2019m very pleased. There were just over a hundred people in the torchlight procession, which is a record high in all the years we\u2019ve carried on this tradition\u2014about twice as many as last year. Thousands followed the live broadcast on social media.\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201dBefore Mikael Jansson laid our wreath in front of the statue, I read aloud the first verse of Gustav Adolf\u2019s battle hymn, \u2018Do Not Be Afraid, O Little Band,\u2019 which he and his soldiers sang before the Battle of L\u00fctzen, where he was ultimately killed. I think it\u2019s important to carry that message forward into our struggle today: not to be afraid.\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201dThe hymn was included in our Swedish hymnal for centuries, but was removed in 1986 by left-wing forces. They also removed several other conservative or nationalistic hymns, such as \u2018The Church of Our Fathers.\u2019\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201dAlternativ f\u00f6r Sverige is making a cultural contribution. It is thanks to us that this 19th-century Gothenburg tradition is being kept alive. We\u2019re also seeing more and more young people joining our ranks, which is encouraging and gives us hope. After all, that\u2019s the very essence of a tradition: that it\u2019s passed down from generation to generation. The Gustav Adolf celebration now has everything it needs to continue\u2014and grow in scope\u2014in the future.\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201dI would also like to highlight the importance of public education. Those who took part in the celebration, whether in person or online, gained knowledge about the military commander and heroic king Gustav II Adolf\u2014who was also the founder of the city of Gothenburg\u2014about whom they had not learned anything in school or from the rest of society.\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201d<em>But this is not just a historical commemoration. We naturally addressed the critical political issues of our time, and the need for a new political agenda to save Sweden from demographic replacement and a shift in power. That is why we need Alternative for Sweden, and in my speech I emphasized that our torches in the November darkness symbolize our party\u2019s role in Swedish politics: we are the light in the darkness. We are fighting to preserve the nation-state while all the other parties are working to dismantle it.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201d<em>Now I'm looking forward to November 30 in Stockholm, in memory of Charles XII. I think there could be several hundred of us this year.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The next torchlight procession is coming up in November<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On November 30, AFS is planning its next historic celebration\u2014this time, the traditional torchlight procession in memory of <strong>Charles XII <\/strong>in Stockholm. The gathering is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Riddarholm Church, where participants will gather for another torchlight procession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Torches lit up Gothenburg as AFS paid tribute to Gustav II Adolf. Kasselstrand sees a growing tradition<\/p>","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":182242,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[206,205],"tags":[374,204,1536,410],"class_list":["post-182235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-inrikes","category-nyheter","tag-alternativ-for-sverige","tag-goteborg","tag-gustav-ii-adolf","tag-gustav-kasselstrand"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}