The Norwegian Wood Festival is one of Norway’s most popular rock festivals. The festival's name refers to the famous Beatles song "Norwegian Wood". The annual 4-day event is held in mid-June in the open-air bath Frognerbadet in Oslo. It's programme includes Norwegian bands as well as international artists. Notable acts in the past have included Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, David Bowie and Sting. The festival’s unique location in the open-air public bath creates a refreshing atmosphere for it's broad audience in the hot summer. There is no age limit to get in. 7000 tickets will be sold for each day of the event and they sell quickly!

On Thursday and Friday the concerts start in the afternoon, while Saturday and Sunday are filled with concerts the whole day almost until late in the evening. Friday has been established as the ”dark” day, with hard rock and metal on the programme.

Mail / Postal address: Norwegian Wood Company AS, PO Box 90, N-1325 Lysaker, Norway
E-mail: post@norwegianwood.no

Oslo Jazz Festival, the Norwegian National Opera Orchestra

Oslo Jazz Festival is a six-day festival held in August every year. It celebrated 25 years in 2011. The program represents the whole spectrum of jazz and related music, from gospel and blues to latin jazz and electronica. In the past it has held up to 70 concerts with 450 musicians on 18 stages. International stars such as Phil Woods, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Bobby McFerrin, Brad Meldau, Django Bates and Illinois Jaquet Big Band have all featured at the Oslo Jazz Festival.

You can buy a festival pass for the whole festival period which includes most concert venues. It is also possible to buy a pass for one day, or single tickets for a particular concert.

Mail / Postal address: Øvre Vollgate 15, N-0158 Oslo, Norway
E-mail: info@oslojazz.no

The Tromsø International Film Festival is Norway's largest film festival, established in 1991. It screens a selection of films from around the world and it is both a popular public festival as well as an important meeting point for the international film industry. More than 300 screenings take place during the festival, some of them on big outdoor screens set up on Tromsø's main square. Documentaries and short films from the region are shown together with feature-length movies by big international names, as well as up-and-coming talent. Talks, quiz, silent film concerts and other events also take place during the week-long festival. In 2012 there were 52,900 admissions.

Mail / Postal address: Tromsø International Film Festival, PO Box 285, 9253 Tromsø
E-mail: martha@tiff.no

Tromsø International Film Festival

Each year, in the middle of January, Tromsø comes to life after the long polar night. Tromsø, located in the far north of the country, is one of the best places in the world to witness this natural phenomenon that is widely referred to as the Northern Lights. The festival provides the perfect opportunity to combine unrivalled views of the sky with the best of Norwegian culture in the form of traditional music. The programme offers music in concert halls, churches and pubs, as well as dance, theatre and music ensembles of different sizes and types. The festival started out as a purely a classical music festival in 1988, but has since evolved to incorporate genres from opera and jazz to chamber music and symphonic orchestras. In addition to the many concerts staged during the festival week, there are also many other events such as Northern Lights cruises, master classes for musicians as well as outdoor events and lectures.

Mail / Postal address: Nordlysfestivalen, Pb 966, N-9260, Tromsø
E-mail Ticket Master: order@aurorakino.no

Tromsø, Northern Lights

The Telemark Festival in Bø presents traditional folk music from all over the world. The festival preserves the essential elements of the folk music experience. The programme showcases a cross section of the current folk music scene, whether that be revivals, hybrid genres or new styles. With more than 50 concerts and work-shops for all ages. The workshops will give you a chance to learn traditional Norwegian dances and play traditional instruments.

Mail / Postal address: Telemark Festival, Gullbringvegen 34, 3800 Bo
E-mail: post@telemarkfestivalen.no

The Arts Festival of North Norway has been held in Harstad since 1965. It is the most important art event in Northern Norway. During a hectic week the town of Harstad, located 300 km north of the Arctic circle, is turned into a cultural melting pot for artists. The musical event began with a particular focus on the meeting between amateurs and professionals, it is today a top shelf international event that presents and produces a vast spectrum of musical genres, performance arts, visual arts, literature and cinematic arts. The Festival of North Norway also produces several self-produced concerts annually.

Mail / Postal address: Festspillene i Nord-Norge, Postboks 294, 9483 Harstad
E-mail: post@festspillnn.no

The Festival of North Norway

The Lillehammer Jazz Festival is considered one of autumn's most beautiful adventures. DølaJazz, Lillehammer's annual jazz festival, has become one of the most important events on the cultural calendar of this peaceful town. Expect funky tunes and pioneering performances as a lively precursor to winter in this Nordic region. Lillehammer Jazz Festival started its life in 1978 and has over the years grown to become one of the most prominent jazz festivals in Norway. The festival profiles Norwegian and Nordic jazz, but has always included renown foreign performers as well. Lillehammer Jazz Festival is not only a festival of musical expression, but to a large extent a project that connects people across age, professional background and gender.

Mail / Postal address: Postboks 566, Lillehammer, 2603, Norway
E-mail: dolajazz@dolajazz.no

The Ibsen Festival is a celebration of Scandinavian theatre, visual art, music and dance. The event centers around the opening weekend of Commonweal’s annual Ibsen production. The festival's name is a tribute to Henrik Ibsen, Norway's greatest playwright and his ground-breaking work challenging the theatrical conventions of his time. Ibsen Fest offers numerous events and presentations throughout the weekend to satisfy a variety of interests. Throughout the weekend, guests may attend lectures, film presentations, musical concerts and artistic displays. While most events and classes require pre-registration, many are free. Young people from all over Norway participate in Ibsenstafetten.

E-mail: ibsen.skien@online.no

Norwegian Festival of Literature
Photo: Knut-Roger Tangnes/LKK

The Norwegian Festival of Literature is the biggest literary festival in the Nordic countries taking place in May at Lillehammer every year since 1995. The festival was named after the Norwegian author and Nobel laureate Sigrid Undset who lived in Lillehammer between 1919 and her death in 1949. The event encompasses all the Nordic countries in its scope and has developed into a popular festival where both writers and people from the book publishing industry, both domestic and foreign, are represented. In the past few years it has had an increasingly international profile with a particular focus on literature from the Nordic countries. In addition the festival contains everything from large scale events to intimate small events: meetings with authors and authorships, readings, interviews, debates, lectures, concerts, art exhibitions, seminars, theatre, film and quiz. It is so popular that it is Norway's largest meeting point for authors, translators, literary critics, publishers and librarians.

Mail / Postal address: Norsk Litteraturfestival, Postboks 4, 2601 Lillehammer, Norway
E-mail: post@litteraturfestival.no