Chris Adam Hedman Sörbye

How can an entire career in the cultural sector not count? The Minister of Education has announced that one-third of the funding for adult education associations is to be cut, with the money instead being invested in educational programs that lead to “real jobs.” What happens to the next generation of creators? And what do we lose as a society when the pathways into the cultural sector become increasingly scarce?

Melodifestivalen (direct translation: The Melody Festival) is an annual music competition organised by Swedish public broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT). The competition is a six part tour (5 heats + the final) with stops in cities across Sweden to determine the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest. Melodifestivalen is also known informally as "Mello", or internationally as "Melfest".