The Children's Festival gives children a quality start to concert life
Children are the festival audience of the future. Therefore, we think they deserve the best possible start in life as a concertgoer and music enthusiast. This year we have therefore given Barnivalen an extra boost!
There is no shortage of good festival atmosphere at the Kongsberg Jazz Festival. But the mood on Barnivalen, the children's own little "jazz festival", is something all its own. It has its own area, Barnivalparken, and the artists who perform are handpicked to please both the youngest and their parents - at the same time.
- The children are a very honest, but also very grateful audience. While we adults can often stand and chat even while watching our favorite artists, the children are one hundred percent dedicated if you first manage to get their focus, says Erik Fosland, who is project manager and producer for Barnivalen and Kongsberg Jazz Festival.
The art of meeting several generations
The children's festival runs over three days and takes place at Kvarten, which is one of Kongsberg's finest pearls down towards Lågen.
A good tip is that it pays to buy a Barnivalen three-day pass if you plan to visit Barnivalen on two of the days.
Every day offers concerts, theater performances and activities, including workshops with fantasy instruments and spray paint. The idea is to give the children the best possible start in life as festival-goers and give their interest in music a kick-start. A kind of festival school if you will.
- When we find artists for the Children's Festival, we are concerned that it should work well for both the children and the adults who accompany them. It should preferably be something that the adults can also enjoy together with the children, a bit like when children's films include something fun for the adults, says Fosland, who shot the golden bird last year by booking the Kongsberg home favorite Viggo Venn before he later ran away with the victory in "Britain's Got Talent".
Little bear tribute for young and old
On the program this year, we will find many goodies with appeal both to children and adult companions. You will find a full overview of the program every day on our program pages, but here you will find some of the highlights:
Thursday:
Sarah Camille: Spellemann winner for this year's children's record in 2020, and a warm and approachable singer and communicator. An exciting journey of discovery through music, language and sound, in the borderland between folk song, folk and jazz.
Mikrokosmos: Pop, rock and funk with lyrics about everything from flying cows and walking on lava, to dads doing really embarrassing things and about days when everything just goes wrong. Perfect band at Barnivalen, in other words!
Friday:
Time Thief: Fun and raucous band based in Western Norway, but with Kongsberg-raised Marius Storm Trælstad on guitar. Violent and rocking arrangement that can be a highlight across the generations.
Disney pearls with Malin and Andreas: Kongsberg's own musical star Malin Hoff Skjolde joins Andreas Hoff in a show that takes children and adults through the well-known and beloved Disney universe from Moana, Frost, The Lion King and many more.
Saturday:
Thea & The Wild play Lillebjørn Nilsen: Lillebjørn's song catalog has universal appeal among young and old, and therefore we think Thea Glenton Raknes' Lillebjørn Nilsen tribute should appeal to everyone. Good band and a vocalist with a warm and inclusive appearance.
Swing'it: Always a good atmosphere with this group! They take the audience on a journey 100 years back in time, to 1920s New Orleans. Captivating and entertaining Dixieland, with humour, jokes, straw hats, crossbows and lots of fun!
Barnivalen Thursday 2024
Barnivalen Friday 2024
Barnivalen Saturday 2024
Jazz children since the 70s
Since 1977, Kongsberg Jazzfestival has had an offer for families with children. It often started with a slightly smaller feature between the regular concerts during the day, mostly because the festival organizers and the volunteers needed a kind of "babysitting" arrangement to get what they were supposed to do.
But over time Barnivalen has developed into its own "festival within the festival", and is, as far as we know, the oldest children's festival of this type in Norway!
When earlier this year we developed a new graphic profile for Kongsberg Jazz Festival together with the design duo Smuss Studio, Barnivalen got its own boost.
- The Children's Festival must reach the children, and then completely different means are needed than for the main profile. The funny figures and a playful color palette are the most important measures to achieve this. We have given the Barnivalen an energetic and summery color palette, with a green main color that adorns the lush festival area in the Barnival Park, explains Jørgen Brynhildsvoll in Smuss Studio.
Animated supergroup
"The funny figures" that Brynhildsvoll refers to are in practice a whole band of playing animals, created in collaboration with the animator and illustrator Ole-Magnus Saxegård.
His illustrations will characterize Barnivalen's new collection of t-shirts and caps, and build a bridge between childish playfulness and jazz. These will be for sale in Barnivalparken and in the festival's sales booth.
- I have a streak that is a bit cartoon-like, so it was just a matter of going straight for it. I wanted to make something that was childish, fun and playful, while also being a good link to jazz. So it ended up with a band of animals that I imagine playing some kind of jazz, maybe trad.jazz or maybe a little improv. Not quite perfect and well thought out, but always a lot of fun, Saxegård explains.
