Camilla and Daniel bring the barndance back to life

Camilla Bergström and Daniel Holm already had their hands full. Full-time jobs in different places, everyday life, and a farm to manage. But the barn – the large, old dance barn on the property they had bought – refused to stay silent. It whispered of nights with 1,200 guests, of dance bands playing under the stars, and of young people sneaking in by boat across the lake.

And Camilla and Daniel listened.

When they came across an old pocket-sized program leaflet from the 1980s, with an opening night on May 24 – the very same date they had planned for this year’s reopening – it felt almost like a sign. They started calling it “Löcknamon Loge 2.0.”

Daniel, who grew up in the neighboring village of Gålsjö, clearly remembers how the sounds of the parties carried all the way home on summer evenings. One of the most retold family stories is the time his father hurried off to the barn dance but accidentally grabbed the wrong bag – one filled with diapers instead of drinks. A tale that’s lived on at the kitchen table for decades.

Camilla and Daniel quickly realized they weren’t the only ones with memories. Nearly everyone in the area had something to say about the barn. About their parents’ dances. About a summer romance. About youthful mischief. A summer neighbor, who happened to pass by during the interview, eagerly shared how as a teenager he used to find traces in the reeds from guests who had snuck in from the water – and about the magical atmosphere that settled over the farm when it was time for a barn dance.

And then there was that time someone opened the neighboring cowshed and let the pigs loose in the middle of the party. A drunken idea that ended in a chaotic chase – and yet another story to remember.

But what truly gave Camilla and Daniel the courage to take the leap was the feeling that something important was hidden here – something that deserved to come alive again.

They see themselves as a team, they say. Camilla is the one who makes ideas take flight, Daniel is the one who builds them on solid ground. Literally. Much of the barn’s new interior has been cut, repurposed, and salvaged by Daniel himself: tabletops made from the farm’s own trees, a bar counter built from old logs pulled from the bottom of Lake Multen, a dance floor repaired with planks from forgotten corners of the barn.

And though they’re newcomers to the event industry, they’ve thrown themselves into it with curiosity and courage. “You have to dare,” says Camilla with a smile. “Saturday morning before the party, when everything has to be set up – it’s nerve-wracking! But we do it together, and we have friends, relatives, and neighbors who help. That makes all the difference.”

Reviving the barn dance has become a passion project. They want to create a celebration space where generations can come together – with dancing for those who want it, but also with food, coffee, community, and a taste of country life. Their vision is a welcoming barn dance where you feel at home no matter your age or dance floor experience.

What’s next? Folk festivals with different themes. Maybe rockabilly, country, 90s, or something completely unexpected. They’re experimenting – with respect for the past and curiosity for the future. And already, neighbors are talking about arriving on hay wagons, just like in the old days.

For Camilla and Daniel, it’s about giving something back. About caring for a place with history – and creating new stories to carry forward. With Löcknamon Loge 2.0, the barn dance returns – not as a replica of what once was, but as a new tradition rooted in the same soil.