The year's finest festival experiences are coming to Kongsberg!
For 60 years, we have had world names in jazz on the Kongsberg poster, but also broad, popular artists and bands. In short: You get one of the year's finest festival experiences in your own neighbourhood!
Kongsberg Jazz Festival is one of the most traditional music festivals in Norway and celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. All this happens in the center of our city, which in all modesty is among Norway's cosiest. Here are ten good reasons to celebrate the 60th anniversary with us:
Here are 10 good reasons to make the trip to the Kongsberg Jazz Festival:
#1 Always a top-shelf jazz name
A list of all the big jazz names who have played at the Kongsberg Jazz Festival would be too long. Herbie Hancock, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Mingus, Sonny Rollins, Chet Baker - you get the picture. Who hasn't played with us, really? In the anniversary year, we have strong international names such as Joshua Redman, John Scofield, Dave Holland, Billy Cobham and Cécile McLorin Salvant.
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#2 Fantastic surroundings
In all modesty, we must say that Kongsberg is one of the coziest towns in Eastern Norway. This year the city celebrates its 400th anniversary, the same year that the jazz festival celebrates 60 years. Few festivals use an entire city as the setting for the festival in the same way as the Kongsberg Jazz Festival. We love using the historical surroundings and the special Kongsberg-unique venues as a setting for the festival experience.
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#3 Large and small, wide and narrow opposite each other
The concerts during the Kongsberg Jazz Festival are played on a number of different stages and locations around the city, some indoors and some outdoors, in a range from intimate concert experiences to folk festivals on Kirketorget. Bass player Per Zanussi won the DNB award last year, so you can see him in various constellations on several stages. You can buy a festival pass that covers the entire festival, a day pass that gives access to all concerts on the day in question, or single tickets for the concerts you want to see.
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#4 Folkefest in the middle of the city
The historic Church Square in Kongsberg gathers great folk artists and bands every year. This year we have a strong Norwegian profile, with names such as Hellbillies, Åge Aleksandersen & Sambandet, DumDum Boys, Cezinando and a few more names that will be ready soon. On the other side of town, in the backyard of Gamle Norge, you can experience, among other things, Sweden's national treasure Carola, folk rockers Gåte and all of Norway's vice favorite Halvdan Sivertsen.
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#5 A big festival in pocket format
All concerts during the Kongsberg Jazz Festival take place within walking distance of each other, and within walking distance of Kongsberg station, with frequent train and bus connections in all directions. Perfect logistical conditions for a great festival experience. You immediately get the festival feeling when you get off the train or bus, with bustling folk life in the city and free concerts in Festivalgata and the Jazzbox. Maybe it's time to invite your friends from Oslo, Hamar or Stavanger to a long weekend at Kongsberg?
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#6 Unique and intimate concert experiences
This year, Kongsberg Jazzfestival can offer treats such as Horta (pictured), the project of multi-instrumentalist Stian Carstensen, the unique singer Elias Akselsen and fiddle virtuoso Ola Kvernberg in an intimate concert in Kongsberg's 262-year-old church. In the cozy backyard of Christian's basement, you can hear, among other things, Norwegian-language vice pop with Ingrid Olava and Tønes, soul jazz with Beady Belle and our local blues queen Rita Engedalen. At Energimølla you get cutting edge jazz and indie with strong names such as award-winner Per Zanussi with quartet, the legend Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), Gard Nilsen Acoustic Unity, the talkative Knower and Thom Yorke friend Tom Skinner, while Kongsberg's own Susanna Wallumrød occupies the Musikkteatret with her Baudelaire & Oslo Sinfonietta- project.
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#7 Sustainable and environmentally friendly
Together with Øyafestivalen, Kongsberg Jazzfestival was the first to be certified as an Environmental Lighthouse in 2007. Among the environmental measures during the festival are several car-free streets, as many short-distance products and services as possible, and all diesel generators have been replaced with direct current.
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#8 Committed volunteers and local support
Few festivals can show the same degree of local commitment and loyal volunteers as the Kongsberg Jazz Festival. We probably have the country's best and most dedicated volunteers! Because of this, the visiting festival guests experience the jazz festival as warm, friendly and inclusive, and well organized. Festivalgata and the Jazzbox are cozy meeting points for the whole city during the festival, with free concerts every day.
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#9 A family-friendly festival
Barnivalen is a separate festival within the festival, this year with a new and colorful profile and cool t-shirts! Children under the age of two enter the Barnivalen for free, here the rule is that adults can only enter accompanied by children! At Barnivalen there are concerts, performances, workshops and lots of activities for the whole family in the city's greenest park area. Five of our stages have a free age limit: Kongsberg Musikkteater, Sølvsalen, Kongsberg church, Smeltehytta and Galleri Åkern. There is a guardianship system at Kirketorget and Energimølla. The festival kicks off with a separate festival parade, in familiar jazz festival style, and with an opening party for the whole family.
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#10 A historic jazz festival
Since 1964, the Kongsberg Jazz Festival has been held annually, with the exception of the corona year 2020. With its rich history, the Kongsberg Jazz Festival is an important cultural event in both Kongsberg and Norway, and a festival with a strong international reputation. As a resident of the Kongsberg district, you have every reason to be proud of the festival, especially this year when we celebrate our 60th anniversary!
