-This is worse than we feared!

Hilde Bjørkum - Photo: D. Reiakvam

Press release Wednesday, October 7, 2015

The rumor that the hub scheme was responsible for the fall in the upcoming state budget turned out to be true. With the exception of the Bergen International Festival and the Northern Norway International Festival, the government has chosen to remove direct support for 13 of a total of 16 hub festivals that currently have hub status. – The state budget is more brutal than I expected in any way, says director Hilde Bjørkum in Førdefestivalen .

« Førdefestivalen "fulfills with brilliance" was the title of the press release issued by the festival in September 2014, after the Ministry of Culture had completed the evaluation of the festival's hub mission. The conclusion of the evaluation was: Førdefestivalen fulfills its purposes very well and appears as an artistic leader in its field in a national context, while at the same time being able to assert itself well internationally. – We are surprised that the Ministry of Culture has placed so little emphasis on quality criteria in the discussion of the hub scheme in connection with the State Budget. Today we wonder whether the Ministry of Culture has taken the comprehensive evaluation into account at all, says Director Hilde Bjørkum.

Brutal change
In the proposed state budget for 2016, the entire hub scheme has been abolished. With a stroke of the pen. –Despite the fact that we were prepared for changes, this is far more brutal than we had expected, says Bjørkum. –Instead of the “adjustments” that were announced in advance, the government has made a short process and transferred the pot for the hub scheme to the Norwegian Arts Council. The only guidelines are that the level of festival support will be at the same level as in 2015 next year.

In reality, they have continued a kind of "Hub Arrangement", only with the title of "national institutions" by leaving two festivals under the Ministry of Culture. - It is completely unreasonable, believes Bjørkum. Either they must transfer all the festivals to the Arts Council, and create a proper and predictable arrangement there, or more festivals must be included as "national institutions" under the Ministry of Culture. 

Cultural lighthouses
Bjørkum is disappointed that the government does not see the value of having cultural beacons outside the big cities. – Førdefestivalen is, to the highest degree, a national institution with a social mission that is more important than ever, namely to show the cultural diversity and richness of the world and, not least, to preserve, develop and be a showcase for our own cultural heritage, she says, adding that Førdefestivalen In recent years, the festival has also had an international impact: In 2014, the festival came in at number 10 on The Guardian's list of Europe's best small town festivals, and in 2015, the festival was listed in National Geographic Travel's top seven list of music festivals in Europe, regardless of genre. In both of these rankings, Førdefestivalen The only Norwegian festival on the list.

Hoping for cross-political mobilization
The proposed State Budget also does not say anything about the agreement that now applies to the hub festivals in relation to contributions from the county council or municipality. – This is still an uncertain point. I hope that our politicians see how important it is to have Førdefestivalen as an event with international impact and audiences from all over the country, and maintaining support for the festival. It is important for both culture and business in our region, she says. – I also hope that they will now mobilize strongly to secure cultural beacons at a national level also outside the big cities, says Bjørkum.