There was not an exact match for the language you toggled to. You have been redirected to the nearest matching page within this section.
Scandic Hotels – in all major cities from north to south
Nordic Choice Hotels – a different hotel company
Thon Hotels – with fantastic breakfast
Radisson Blu Hotels – discover your favourite destinations
Citybox – modern and affordable hotels in a central location
DanCenter – your specialist in holiday homes in Norway
Norgesbooking – book your perfect cabin stay in Norway
Campcation – book camping all across Norway with Campcation
Vy – travelling by train has never been easier
SJ NORD – the adventure starts on the train
Vy express – travel with bus throughout Norway
NOR-WAY Bussekspress – experience amazing scenery by bus
Widerøe – the largest regional airline in Scandinavia
DFDS – Europe’s leading ferry operator 2012-2021
AutoEurope – always a smooth car rental experience
Rent-A-Wreck – the smart car rental alternative
Arctic Campers – Norway’s camper van rental
Cabin Campers – your cottage on four wheels
Hurtigruten – "The World’s Most Beautiful Sea Voyage"
Fjord Tours – Home of Norway in a nutshell® - Norway’s most popular tour
Authentic Scandinavia – Travel created by locals
Up Norway – Bespoke luxury tailored by insiders
Norrøna Hvitserk – expeditions and adventure holidays
Booknordics.com – hundreds of activities, tours and day cruises in Norway
Brim Explorer – silent fjord tours by electric catamaran
Fjord Travel – let us show you the beauty of Norway!
Go Fjords – tours and activities all over Norway
50 Degrees North – unforgettable tailor-made and small group tours to Norway
Discover Norway – skiing, biking and hiking tours in Norway
Norwegian Holidays – low-price package holidays with Norwegian. Flight, hotel and rental car
Stromma – sightseeing, excursions and experiences with bus, boat and train
Rauland – Skiing holidays in stunning mountain scenery
{{title}} {{:price}} - {{!preprice}} Price: {{?}} {{preprice}} {{/}} {{price}} {{:postprice}}{{postprice}}{{/}} {{?:pricing}} - {{pricing}} {{/pricing}}
Planning can be as pleasurable as letting your musical taste decide where you go this summer, like if you were an untamed breeze flowing through Norway on a whim. Find yourself attending exotic lesser-known music festivals in Instagram-friendly nature, as well as in the middle of the crowd at huge festival gigs in the larger cities.
To fill up your stomach, make gourmet stops at the many food festivals along the way, that serve local delicacies.
Tord Litleskare is a free-spirited chap. He works as a photographer and editor-in-chief of Gaffa Norway, a branch of the Nordic countries’ largest music magazine.
“Luckily, at Gaffa we are free to cover music and artists that we care for personally, and that freedom strongly influences where I travel in the summer festival season.”
For a safe start, Tord points out festivals in the bigger cities, as he believes he will find the most interesting artist there. It could be the Pstereo festival in Trondheim, Utopia in Stavanger, Øyafestivalen and OverOslo in Oslo, and Bergenfest in his native town of Bergen.
“Like others who are into music, I let the artists decide where I travel. But this is a question of where you are in life. When I was 17 or 18, I was ready to go anywhere. That attitude has changed a bit” Tord explains.
But he understands the adventure-seeking festival crowd who look for unusual nature experiences.
“The Vinjerock and Træna festivals are both fit for youngsters who are hungry for new experiences in the middle of nature, and who have an urge to discover new places. That crowd seems especially dedicated, because after all it’s an investment of time and money to travel that far.”
Tord Litleskare works as a photographer and editor-in-chief of Gaffa Norway, a branch of the Nordic countries’ largest music magazine.
Tord adds that another advantage of going to the lesser-known festivals is the possibility of experiencing new talents who may later play only at the biggest gigs.
In the city of Haugesund, you will find The world’s longest herring table every year in August. In Hjelmeland, there is the Norwegian fruit and salmon festival every September, and Valdres is known for its quirky and beloved Norsk rakfiskfestival where they serve semifermented trout every November. The sur & bitter craft beer festival in Sandnes is the place to be for beer enthusiasts in September, and The klipfish (bacalao) festival dominates the city of Kristiansund in late June. The list of food festivals gets longer every year.
Back in 2014, Bergenfest got a lot of attention and boost when they had managed to book Lana del Rey months ahead of her album release, that happened just two days before she took to the stage in Bergen.
“That made their reputation”, Tord says.
This season, the Gaffa editor-in-chief and his staff plan to cover at least 22 festivals.
“And when I’m off work, I admit that I keep spending my time going to festivals, sometimes simply because the destination seems cool.”
Find more information about the festivals by clicking on the icons in the map.
Filter your search and check out the events below.
See our selection of companies that work hard to make you happy all through your trip.
Check our listings of exciting events happening in Norway and plan your trip for a memorable turn of events!
With hundreds of music festivals to choose from, it can be difficult to know where to begin. Øystein Greni, lead singer in the rock band Bigbang, shares his six favourite festivals in Norway.
Norway has more than 900 festivals to choose from every year. Here are five unique Norwegian cultural festivals offering live music and a broad range of arts and culture.
These under-the-radar festivals give you an opportunity to explore parts of Norway you didn’t even know existed.
Back to top