Norwegian Tour

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Sometimes you forget just how beautiful the place you come from really is.

This summer, I got to experience Norway in a way I don't think I ever have before. In one weekend, we visited three different festivals in three very different parts of the country – Moldejazz in Molde, Malakoff in Nordfjordeid and Vinjerock by Jotunheimen. The following weekend, the journey continued to Fres Festival in Fresvik.

That meant many, many hours on the road.

But surprisingly, driving never felt like the boring part of the tour. Quite the opposite. It became part of the experience.

When travelling through this part of Norway, the distances are huge. Roads wind their way between mountains and fjords, and sometimes the road literally ends at the water – and your journey continues by ferry.

Then you keep driving.

Past enormous mountains, waterfalls, tiny villages, green valleys and fjords that almost don't look real.

I think this was the first time I truly understood how lucky I am to come from this country.

Of course, I have seen Norwegian nature my entire life. But maybe I was simply too young to understand how extraordinary it really is. When something has always surrounded you, it's easy to assume it's normal.

Now I was seeing it through completely different eyes.

Our first stop was Moldejazz in Molde, a festival with a history stretching all the way back to 1961. During the festival, the city fills with music, people and life, surrounded by the fjord and mountains.

From there, we travelled to Malakoff in Nordfjordeid. The festival takes place in the green Malakoff park, close to the Eidselva river and the fjord, surrounded by the dramatic landscape of Western Norway.

And then came perhaps the festival that fascinated me the most: Vinjerock.

Vinjerock takes place at Eidsbugarden, surrounded by the mountains of Jotunheimen. Here, nature isn't simply a backdrop to the festival – it becomes part of the entire experience.

So many Norwegians arrive with their tents and camp throughout the festival. During the day, people head into the mountains and go hiking, before returning for concerts and festival life later on.

To me, there is something absolutely magical about that.

It reminded me of the feeling I had at Trænafestivalen. There is something very particular about the people you meet at festivals like these. Down-to-earth, open, free and incredibly friendly.

And somehow, it feels so typically Norwegian.

Maybe not the polished version of Norway you see in photographs, but something that, to me, represents a very real part of the Norwegian soul: our relationship with nature, the tents, the mountains, the sense of community, the music and the wonderfully unpretentious way people meet each other.

I talk more about this in the video further down in this post.

The following weekend, we continued to Fresvik for Fres Festival. Once again, we had a little time between work and performing to actually explore our surroundings.

This time, I got to experience one of Norway's stave churches.

And once again I had the same thought: How did I never understand how incredible this was before?

Norwegian stave churches are extraordinary survivors of medieval wooden architecture. Their structures were created using sophisticated woodworking techniques, with pieces of timber carefully joined and locked together using techniques including wooden pegs rather than relying on modern metal fasteners. The wood was protected from Norway's harsh climate with pine tar.

And centuries later, many of these wooden structures are still standing.

That genuinely makes me proud.

Proud of the craftsmanship. The history. The nature. And of coming from a small country with so much identity hidden between its mountains.

This tour therefore became something more than festivals, stages and performances for me. It gave me the opportunity to actually look at my country while travelling through it – and perhaps understand it in a way I wasn't old enough to do before.

I'm incredibly grateful that my work allows me to tour through some of the most beautiful parts of my own country.

And I think I fell a little more in love with Norway along the way.