Om Kulturkompis

Building friendship through culture

Kulturkompis (Culture Buddies) matches people who are new in Sweden with people who have lived here for a long time, maybe their whole lives. Together, they share cultural experiences – movies, concert, theatre and learn new things together – for free.

Kulturkompis is open to anyone who is new in Sweden, as well as to any Swede. All we ask is that you want to meet new friends and learn new things together through cultural experiences.

Kulturkompis matchmaking system connects people who are new in Sweden to locals with similar interests in culture. They are placed in groups, circles, of 4–5. Each circle then experience a string of cultural events together.

How does it work?

  • Sign up to be matched

    After you sign up you will be matched with others in a Culture Buddy Group

  • Experience Culture

    You and your new Culture Buddies go to a movie, a play or maybe an exhibition together.

  • Get to know each other

    After each cultural experience you hang out over “fika” (Swedish word for having coffee/tea) and conversation in Swedish.

21

Cities

1652

Culture buddies

171

Cultural partners

Cultural experience and conversation

You group will meet minimum three times. You decide what you want to do and when you want to do it.

Theatres, concert halls, cinemas, cultural festivals and others provide Kulturkompis with free tickets. What you can actually do depends on where in Sweden you live. After each each cultural experience you hang out over “fika” (Swedish work for having coffee/tea) and conversation in Swedish.

Through culture and conversation, both friendship new knowledge will grow.

Form a group with a friend

If you are two or more people who want to be in the same Culture Buddy group, you can sign up together. One of you starts by signing up and can then invite the other. We will the make sure you rematched in the same group.Just remember that half the group must be new in Sweden.

Do you want to become a group leader?

One of the group members musttake on the role as group leader and call a first meeting. Here, the culture buddies get to know each other and plan their cultural experiences together.

The group leader is also responsible for bureaucratic tasks like booking tickets and keeping track of attendance. This is necessary, because Kulturkompis gets State support for its activities (more on that later). Otherwise, the leader is an equal participant.

Where are we?

Kulturkompis is constantly growing. If you can’t find your home town, sign up anyway and we will let you know as soon as Kulturkompis is established where you are.

Our history

Kulturkompis hit the ground running in 2016, in the wake of the refugee crisis, primarily in Syria, that started to affect Sweden in 2015.

Research shows that Sweden can be particularly tricky when it comes to making new friends as an adult. This makes it difficult to learn the language, find a job and make new friends.

The original idea was simple: Connect newly arrived refugees with Swedes through cultural experiences. The initiative grew fast and attracted a lot of attention.

Today, Kulturkompis is open to anyone who is new in Sweden, as well as to any Swede. All we ask is that you want to meet new friends and learn new things together through cultural experiences.