Førdefestivalen 2022 in one word: Fantastic!
Sona Jobarteh made a brilliant impression with her concert at the Sports Hall. Photo: Lieve Boussauw
-After two special years, it was incredibly good to land a full-scale festival with full concert halls, dancing until late at night and wonderful music experiences in all our many small and large arenas, says director Per Idar Almås. -The festival has held 70 concerts and events, on 30 different stages, and the feedback from the audience and artists is overflowing and fantastic. It is perhaps one of the very best festivals, with a current theme, Music in Crisis, and a strong and varied program with exciting and extremely good artists , says Almås.
-This year's first festival had it all: Exciting experiences, great community events and really hot club nights. Can't ask for more, especially when they manage to stick to the festival's intentions and don't sacrifice folk music! This was great to experience. The deep dive into the festival program confirmed that Førdefestivalen is alive and kicking! Says Per Morten Ekerhovd, director of culture, sports and inclusion in Vestland County Municipality.
And one of the international delegates at this year's festival, Kuba Borysiak, a journalist at Polish radio, wrote on his Facebook page: Let me say, this is so far one of the best festivals in Europe for sure, concerning great and carefully selected lineup, organization and incredible hospitality!
Ayom in action at Larris Stage. The two club evenings gathered a lot of young people, and the atmosphere reached great heights on both Friday and Saturday. Photo. Dear Boussauw.
Unique festival for music lovers
On Førdefestivalen you will be served traditional music and modern folk music from all corners of the world, this year from Columbia, Uganda, Gambia, Poland, Georgia, Spain, Afghanistan, Sudan, Bosnia, Congo, Ireland, India, Sweden, Scotland and Norway. The festival focuses on quality, and always has music at the center. – Our goal is that the audience should really be able to enjoy good music, no matter which of our 30 stages they visit, says Almås. One of the things that was most exciting about the festival this year was seeing so many young people who created a great festival atmosphere at the club nights at Larris Scene and in Sunnfjordsalen at Scandic Sunnfjord Hotel & Spa on Friday and Saturday.
The trio Akselsen, Kvernberg, Carstensen was a very popular act at the festival. Here's from their own concert at noon on Friday, at Larris Scene. Full house! Photo: Heidi Hattestein.
Air strikes and rain posed challenges
The fact that the weather was wet and partly cold did not have any effect other than that there were fewer people than usual at a couple of outdoor events. Saturday was particularly challenging in terms of weather, so the festival breakfast, where the festival in collaboration with NKL Sogn og Fjordane (the culinary club) invites the whole city for free breakfast and entertainment, and the concert at Hafstadfjellet had far fewer audience members than usual. Most of the indoor concerts were well attended, and there were many full houses at the festival. -The opening concert and the gala concert also had a slightly lower audience turnout than usual. This was expected, and is also in line with what other festivals are experiencing. Not everyone is ready to go to concerts again, but our core audience has welcomed the festival program with open arms.
From the opening concert, which was a powerful experience, where the theme of the festival, Music in Crisis, was highlighted. Photo: Lieve Boussauw.
The strike at SAS caused an extremely large amount of extra work, but the festival managed to get everyone involved. artists both to Førde and out again, without any cancellations. -We had to cancel a concert in Balestrand on Wednesday evening, when two of the musicians did not arrive on time due to technical problems on the plane, explains Almås. All in all, he notes a very successful festival, in his last year as director of Førdefestivalen .
Contact person:
Torill Faleide, Communications Manager, mobile 90 73 85 27
Per Idar Almås, director, mobile 91545603