Advertisement

Rave party to be held at Sweden's weirdest tourist attraction

The Local Sweden
The Local Sweden - [email protected]
Rave party to be held at Sweden's weirdest tourist attraction
Ready to dance the night away here? Photo: Sisyfosgruppen

For years it has been not much more than an oddity, an unused tourist attraction that drew guests for its sheer absurdity and wildly out-of-place feeling. But soon, it will be the location of a three-day rave expected to draw electronic music fans from across Scandinavia.

Advertisement

It is, of course, the Dragon Gate hotel, one of the strangest places in Sweden. Located just off the E4 motorway near Gävle (Sweden's most random city), Dragon Gate is a massive oriental-looking construction that would seem more at home in rural China than Scandinavia. 
 
The brainchild of Chinese billionaire Jingchun Li, the project converted the former Hotel Älvkarlen into an elaborate Chinese-inspired square consisting of a hotel, restaurant, museum and souvenir store. The project dates back to 2004 but not a single guest has ever stayed in the hotel. Despite a grand opening concert in August 2014, the hotel has never actually opened.
 

The rave's first guests have already arrived. Photo: Sisyfosgruppen
 
There was even a period in which it appeared that the entire thing would be shut down before the hotel ever opened its doors, but that was written off to a mix-up owing to a “strange message” posted on the hotel’s website. 
 
In August, the investment group Sisyfosgruppen purchased Dragon Gate from Jingchun and promised to “make something great out of this unique property”. 
 
While the ambitious project – there are 200 replica terracotta soldiers in the museum, an enormous Guanyin statue and there have even been plans to build the world's largest Buddha and bring in a live panda bear – may not have ever lived up to Jingchun’s original vision, the site is going to be home to what promises to be one wild weekend. 
 
 
On Monday it was announced that the Scandinavia Electronic Festival will be held at Dragon Gate May 31st through June 2nd. 
 
The group Technostate Sweden said the festival will be the culmination of “years of struggle” and it promised a weekend that “will go down in history”. 
 
Although sleep may be the last thing on the minds of those who plan to rave the night away, organizers said that the long-delayed hotel would have 170 rooms available for those “who want to live a bit special” during the weekend party. There will also be camping available in the abutting forest. 
 
Tickets for the festival go on sale on Monday, December 10th. 

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also