ABOUT

The Bergen International Festival (Festspillene i Bergen) presents art in all its guises: music, theater, dance, opera and visual art. Founded in 1953, it is the longest standing and foremost music and theater festival in Norway with a combination of dramatic landscapes, local color and imaginative programming. The festival is well established as a center for the northern European arts scene, as Scandinavias largest and most important festival of its kind. Each year over 400 events are staged in the course of 15 days in over 70 venues, including the homes of Edvard Grieg and Ole Bull.

Classical music and theater are cornerstones of the festival, and every year new productions are presented in collaboration with international partners. The festival also gives priority to new music, commissioning several works every year, with numerous premieres and new productions taking place. The festival welcomes over 100,000 visitors each year and receives governmental funding on both regional and national level, in addition to corporate sponsorships.

The festival seeks to invite, inspire and challenge a large local and visiting audience. Joining with partners in and outside Bergen, music, theater, dance – and much more – reflects the lives and dreams of those in the festival, and has unexpected effects on the perception of the world. The festival is notably under the patronage of His Majesty King Harald V.

Three terms are the guides for the colorful, vast landscape that is the festival program: Festivities, Foundations and Friction. Festivities describes the entertainment and surprises of the festival, for young and old, with playful scenes in the streets and events at new and familiar venues. Foundations is for the tradition, renewal and reflection of performances in the classical art tradition. Finally, Friction describes the experimentation and exploration through new technology and boundless artistic landscapes. Through these three terms, the Bergen International Festival has an offering for every taste and occasion.

This year, audiences can enjoy the Bergen International Festival from the comfort of their own home, with almost 30 events streamed online. The events will be available both live and as recordings with subtitles from 26 May until 23 June.

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