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The aim of this thesis is to analyze whether markets are arural phenomenon in Sweden by examining different variables such as thenumber of market days, categories, seasonal patterns, and organizers. Thisstudy is based on secondary data from marknadsdagar.se, supplemented withinformation from organizers websites, which is then transformed into mapsand charts for visual analysis. In addition to the mentioned variables before,a bivariate analysis and correlation analysis were conducted to examine theconnection between market days and population across pre-categorizedmunicipal groups. Previous research on rural and event tourism, andcommunities was used to provide context and a deeper understanding of howmarkets can contribute to rural areas and their development.

The results indicate that municipalities in municipal group with smaller towns(C6) arranged the most market days in 2023. This could mean that smalltowns are attractive to both people in rural areas and in bigger cities. Tourismand event companies were found to be the most frequent organizers ofmarkets in Sweden, predominantly arranging themed markets. In addition, thesummer season had the highest number of all market days, and the category,'other markets' had the most market days. The focus on rural municipalities,revealed that these areas had a high number of market days compared to othermunicipalities in other municipal groups. Also, markets in rural areas canattract visitors, offering city dwellers an escape from a stressful cityenvironment. The bivariate analysis revealed a correlation of – 0,119 whichis a weak negative correlation, suggesting that markets can be considered arural phenomenon. However, it cannot be excluded that markets also holdsome significance for larger and urban municipalities.