Welcome to the colourful
Festival square
Enjoy activities in the warm spring sun from
Thursday 22 May to Sunday 1 June
With support from
Grieg Foundation
there will be a free programme from morning to evening.
The Festival square blossoms in spring
During this year's festival, the town square will once again be transformed into the Festival square, offering an extended free programme for people of all ages made possible with support from the Grieg Foundation. The first events are now being announced.
– Having a solid, long-term agreement in place means we have the opportunity to think ahead and invest time and resources into a project we believe can have great value for the cultural scene, the city, and the Festival in the long term, said Festival director Lars Petter Hagen when the agreement was finalised.
Over 42,000 visits
The Festival square opened for the first time in 2022 in connection with the celebration of the Festival's 70th anniversary, and audience numbers have increased each year since. When the square is transformed once again, there will be a return of the seating furniture made by Signo Dokken in 2022 and the colourful bicycle carts that adorned the square in 2024.
In 2024, the free programme attracted 42,000 visits.
– The Grieg Foundation's gift means that the Festival can create a meeting place for everyone, where shared experiences are the main focus. We are proud of this collaboration and look forward to giving the public the opportunity to experience music and culture completely free of charge, in the warm spring sun, says the festival director.
New performances and annual favourites
Norwegian artist Herborg Kråkevik will perform her first jubilee concert for Kråkeviks songbok at the Festival square, with Helge Lilletvedt, TrondheimSolistene and children's choirs from Bergen. Welcome to the brand new playground named Lekoteket, and listen in when the Møhlenpris school band will perform music by Aurora.
Godfrey Manoharan returns, this time with a performance on stage alongside food and activities at Asylmottaket. The breakdancers in Absence have been inspired by Grieg in their new performance.
There will also be a return of favourites like the Bergen Children's Choir Festival – a choral marathon that fills the city with song – and the traditional Festival youth day, with varied performances by talented cultural school students. VilVite will fill the square and stage with technology and creativity, and Femti-71 is back with a day of drawing, dancing, painting, and sewing!
The first events on the Festival square's diverse programme are now being announced.
Kråkeviks songbok,
the beloved album by Norwegian artist Herborg Kråkevik turns 25 years. For the jubilee Kråkevik will perform in a concert on the Festival square stage, with TrondheimSolistene, Helge Lilletvedt and children's choirs from Bergen.
Lekoteket
is the new playground at the Festival square.
In four large installations people of all ages can climb, sit, crawl, balance, hide, jump, bounce, twist, and listen.
Godfrey Manoharan will feature his new project
Asylmottaket
with a guest apperance by
Helge Jordal
and classical Tamil dance by
Nichola Goutami Stephen
Explore technology and natural science with
VilVite
with a lego workshop, a science show and much more!
The breakdancers from the Bergen-based crew Absence will bring their new performance
Absence x Grieg
where they have been inspired by Edvard Grieg's musical universe through dance and movement.
And on Saturday 24 May the whole of Bergen can get together on the Festival square
when a runner from Bergen will run 42.2 kilometres – the distance of the modern marathon – on a treadmill during
Fun Run
In this extreme endurance artwork; which is part dance party, part performance piece and part epic community celebration,
athletes, trampolinists, martial artists, cyclists, cheerleaders, drummers and dancers from all over Bergen will flood the stage and cheer for the runner.
– Fun Run was the most amazing live event that I have ever experienced. It was authentic, entertaining, encouraging and totally empowering!
– Victor, Fun Run-participant
The Festival square is made possible by
Grieg Foundation
– The Grieg Foundation's gift means that the Festival can create a meeting place for everyone, where shared experiences are the main focus. We are proud of this collaboration and look forward to giving the public the opportunity to experience music and culture completely free of charge, in the warm spring sun, says the festival director.
Bergen International Festival thanks the Grieg Foundation, which makes the Festival square possible and ensures that the programme is free and open to all.
