Workshop Weekend — four portraits of people from the weekend

For me, it is not about commerce and stuff. – Tobben

It is about
making room.

There is no audience here.
Everyone who is present
is part of what happens.

Participants listening together at Workshop Weekend 2022
01

Making room for people.

People who are among the very best in their fields meet here — from Sweden and other countries. Many visitors carry knowledge just as deep as those leading a workshop.

02

Making room for knowledge.

The level is high. Sometimes internationally high. But knowledge is shared without raised stages, titles or any need to prove oneself. Unpretentious does not mean simple.

Close-up of hands and craft at Workshop Weekend 2024
A gathering of people at Workshop Weekend 2024

Someone can stop beside you
and watch for a long while.

Three participants in a close conversation at Workshop Weekend 2022
03

Making room for encounters.

Not networking. Not scheduled conversations. Just the possibility of ending up beside someone, starting to talk and suddenly realising how much time has passed.

What happens during the weekend?

We make things.
For real.

Workshop Weekend offers workshops in crafts, outdoor and woodland life, and primitive skills. There is show and tell and there are talks — but above all, there is plenty of time to try, ask questions and make things together.

Over the years, the weekend has included flint, traps, tracking and carving. Hafting a knife, knotting nets, building a pack frame and working at a pole lathe. Fishing, plant walks, cooking, sauna, coffee and making fire.

Drinking vessels have been shaped and fired in clay here. People have spoken about their lives, hide tanning and bushcraft — and about something as human as daring to sleep outdoors and learning to handle fear.

The content changes from year to year. That is part of the point.

Hands working with thread during a workshop at Workshop Weekend 2022

The small scale is an essential part of Workshop Weekend.

Few tickets.
A high level.
Low prestige.

Not everyone can fit. And honestly, Workshop Weekend is not for everyone. Its limited size is precisely what allows the right encounters to happen and knowledge to be shared between people.

What is shared is experience, generosity and time. Knowledge that is otherwise difficult to get close to, passed directly from one person to another.

An adult and three children sharing freshly picked berries at Workshop Weekend 2025

Children are part of it

Planting a seed.

Workshop Weekend is family-friendly. Children can stay close to what is happening — watching, asking, tasting, trying and meeting people who truly know their craft.

It may not show at the time. But an encounter, a material or a story can be the beginning of something that stays with them for a long time.

Workshop Weekend is difficult
to describe in words.

Perhaps because it is a counterweight to so much else that is available.It has to be experienced in person, together with others.

“…now I am lying here thinking about that weekend. My best weekend of the entire summer. I long for and look forward to the next one. One of the few times I felt at home. I think it was mostly because of the people who were there…”

— A visitor
A close gathering around a workshop at Workshop Weekend 2024

The next Workshop Weekend will not make itself.

Would you like to help make it happen?

Two cheerful volunteers cooking over an open fire at Workshop Weekend

Volunteers wanted

Good at solving what nobody got around to planning?

We need people who want to join us behind the scenes. On Wednesday and Thursday we build, carry, move, arrange and try to get the place ready before anyone has time to ask whether it is.

During the weekend, we need help in the kitchen — especially with breakfast, lunch, washing up and cleaning. We also need a ground crew: people who notice what needs doing and fix whatever comes up. It is social, practical and usually great fun. Occasionally stressful. Rarely well choreographed.

The planning may have gaps, and support from Tobben may sometimes consist of a cheerful “it will work out”. So sound judgement, problem-solving and the ability to laugh in the middle of the washing-up are not desirable extras. They are the job description.

Wednesday–Thursday: building and preparing the siteDuring the weekend: breakfast, lunch, washing up and cleaningGround crew: fix, solve and take care of whatever comes up
I might like to help →

A workshop, talk or something else entirely

Do you know something others should get close to?

Workshop Weekend is shaped by people with deep knowledge, experience and a willingness to share it without prestige.

If there is something you would like to teach, demonstrate or speak about — a workshop, a talk, a demonstration or something that does not fit neatly into any ordinary category — we would like to hear from you.

This is not an open booking or a guarantee of participation. The content and the people are brought together with care so that the whole feels right.

Tell us what you would like to share →
A workshop leader explaining something with a map in the forest

About Workshop Weekend

The weekend after Midsummer, since 2021.

Workshop Weekend takes place at Craft by Karlsson. The number of tickets is strictly limited. Current content, times and practical information can be found in this year’s Facebook event.