This study examines what kind of role events have when it comes to local retail in the rural municipality of Gagnef, located about 240 km northwest of the capital city Stockholm. Rural retail is exposed to an increasing competition from the growing number of shopping centers in larger cities; the rural merchants need to find new ways of strengthening their businesses. The current conditions of the retail are examined by interviewing stakeholders, involved in local retail, events and municipal decision-making. A survey among the visitors of the local events is also conducted, in order to see how consumers perceive the services in, and around the events. The result reveals that the local events are indeed an important factor to a few of the local shops. However, for most of the shop owners in Gagnef, the events do not have an important impact on their businesses. Still, all the stakeholders believe that these arrangements hold a potential of strengthening the local shops. One of the major problems in today’s situation is the lack of collaboration between the different stakeholders involved in retail and events. In order to be able to use the events as a competitive advantage, it has to be an enhanced cooperation between these stakeholders. It is important that merchants, and other stakeholders in rural communities, are active in strengthening their position in the growing competition from large shopping centers in neighboring cities. The formation of the cooperative bodies, where merchants and other stakeholders can communicate and plan common strategies, could increase the possibility for the events to become a positive growth factor for the rural municipality and its retail.