Busking in Stockholm: permit, rules and card tips

Do you need a permit to busk in Stockholm?

The rules in Stockholm

• Amplifiers. Loudspeakers used for information, advertising or messages need police permission (para 13). Amplified music is not addressed in the text.
• Collecting money. Police permission is needed for collecting money in tins or similar. When it happens with street music, permission is needed only if the musician or a helper intends to walk around among the audience and collect money (para 14).

Taking card tips on a Stockholm pitch

Plenty of people stop to listen and then find they have no coins on them. A QR code on a sign beside your case lets them tip in Swedish kronor by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay from their own phone. Visitors can pay with a card from home, and nobody needs an app. Check the rule on collecting money above first: it applies to a tip sign too.

• Print it large. A phone reads a code from about ten times its width, so a 10 cm code works from a metre and an A3 sign from about three.
• Stand it upright at knee to waist height, with your name and one line saying what it is for.
• Playing as a group? One code can split every tip between the members automatically.

The full set-up is in cashless busking: card and phone tips.

Before you play

Read the general advice in busking etiquette and how to choose a busking pitch, and see how Stockholm compares with other cities on the world busking map.

Sources

Checked in October 2026. Rules and fees change, and enforcement varies from street to street, so confirm with Polisen (police); city public order rules KFS 2025:11 before you play. This page is general information, not legal advice.

• start.stockholm

Common questions