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DISCOVER NORWAY

What’s on in Norway: Ten unmissable events this June

Music and food festivals, Pride parades, and Sankthans are among the many events to look forward to in June in Norway. 

Published: 23 May 2024 12:38 CEST
Updated: 2 June 2024 05:39 CEST
Pictured is a person at a festival.
Plenty of Norway's biggest festivals take place in June. Pictured is a person at a festival. Photo by Maxime Bhm on Unsplash

National Music Day, June 1st 

The Norwegian capital of Oslo will host its free annual music festival at the start of June. More than 50 outdoor stages will be spread across the city, and hundreds of performers will treat Oslo’s residents to all kinds of musical performances. 

Free music will be available everywhere, from pub patios to large stages in parks. The festival’s website provides more information on where the various stages are and who will be performing. 

NEON, June 7th – June 8th 

The NEON music festival in Trondheim has quickly become one of the hottest summer kick-off festivals in Norway since launching in 2022. 

The 2024 edition of NEON will take place on June 7th and 8th in Trondheim’s Bryggeribyen E.C. Dahls Arena. 

2024 festival goers will be able to see Tom Odell, Matoma, Lost Frequencies, Jason Derulo, Benson Boone, Emma Steinbakken, Roc Boyz and many more.

Tickets are already available, and you can choose between a festival pass, daily tickets, or premium ticket options.

Miniøya, June 8th – June 9th 

Since its first edition in 2010, Miniøya has become Norway’s largest music and cultural festival for children. 

The festival is aimed at children up to the age of 12, and its program includes music, theatre, literature, disco, dance, and activities. 

Tickets are still available at the time of writing, and OBOS members receive 100 kroner off the 430 kroner ticket price. 

Oslo Food Festival, June 8th – June 9th

The second weekend in June and the final weekend of August will see the Oslo Food Festival held in trendy Grünerløkka. 

The festival focuses on foods from around the world. A mix of established and lesser-known restaurants, as well as plenty of home cooks, will be offering up fantastic food. 

For that reason, the event is much a cultural exchange as it is a gathering for foodies. 

Bergenfest, June 12th – June 15th 

It’s not just the capital that will be treated to music festivals in June. Artists such as PJ Harvey, Stormzy, Kaiser’s Orchestra, Jungle and Gabrielle will all take to the stage. 

The festival is being held in Bergenhus Fortress, one of Norway’s oldest and best preserved fortress areas. 

Day passes, weekend passes, and festival passes are all still available at the time of writing. 

Mablis, June 14th – June 15th 

The music festival, near the centre of Stavanger, aims to blend established acts with new and emerging talent. 

Mablis aims to be an inclusive and sustainable festival, and plenty of local, short-travelled food will be served. 

The festival wants to include the whole family, so there is no age limit. Children under 14 also get to enter the festival free of charge when with an adult. 

OverOslo, June 19th – June 22nd 

Four nights of festival music from acts such as Jungle, Chaka Kahn, Billy Ocean, and plenty of Norway’s biggest funk and pop artists await festivalgoers at the top of Grefsenkollen. 

Tickets for some days are still available at the festival held in the forests above Oslo.  

Sankthans, June 24th 

Sankthans or Jonsok, translated as “John’s wake”, is a Midsummer celebration with both religious and secular roots.

Along with the rest of Scandinavia, it is popular to celebrate with bonfires. In major cities and small towns, the bonfires are typically made along the coastline or in a body of water, and the locals watch from boats or from along the shoreline and bring drinks and snacks. The atmosphere is festive yet relaxed. 

Many Norwegians say that if you sleep with a sankthansblomst or a “red campion flower” underneath your pillow on the night of sankthans, then your future spouse will appear in your dreams.

Pride events 

Norway’s two biggest cities will celebrate Pride in June. Bergen Pride begins at the start of June, and events will continue until the city’s Pride parade on June 8th. 

A number of different events will be held across different venues to mark this year’s celebrations. 

Meanwhile, Norway’s biggest LGBTQ+ celebration, Oslo Pride, will begin on June 19th and end on June 29th. The parade will be held on June 29th.

Gladmat, June 26th – June 29th 

Billing itself as the world’s coolest food festival is Gladmat in Stavanger. The event is Scandinavia’s biggest food festival, and 250,000 visitors will have the opportunity to sample the best flavours from the Stavanger region. 

The festival brings together local food producers, great restaurants and delicious street food. 

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DISCOVER NORWAY

Which parts of Norway are likely to be overcrowded with tourists this summer?

Norway is an incredibly popular tourist destination and with good reason. However, during the busy summer season, several spots are prone to bottlenecks and overtourism.

Published: 19 June 2024 14:29 CEST
Which parts of Norway are likely to be overcrowded with tourists this summer?

One of the benefits of travelling to Norway is that it is a fantastic place to visit during both the summer and the winter.

While the colder months have winter sports and the Northern Lights, the summer allows you to make the most of the country’s fantastic lakes, mountains, hiking, and biking trails.

Still, some places are more likely to be overcrowded than others.

Sometimes, quick and handy solutions may help make overtourism more manageable by avoiding crowds or personally minimising congestion. However, this won’t be the case for every site.

Pulpit Rock

Since 2011, the number of visitors to Pulpit Rock in southwest Norway has doubled to around 350,000 or so.

The high increase in visitors has made the trails and the top of the mountain quite congested. While this won’t spoil the trip or the view at the top for many, it has caused concerns over how much damage overtourism has been doing to the trails and the local environment.

If you really want to avoid queues, try starting earlier or later than other hikers to avoid peak times. Going on a weekday or camping in the surrounding area could also help.

Trolltunga

Another of Norway’s most famous nature spots is Trolltunga. It is renowned for the cliff at the top, which hangs 1,180 metres above sea level.

The views from the top and the pictures you can take at the site have made it incredibly popular in recent years, partly thanks to social media. This has seen the number of hikers go from a few thousand annually to 80,000 per year.

As the hike can take 12 hours, there doesn’t really seem to be a “best time” to tackle the ascent. This is because the trip’s length means there will be other hikers whenever you decide to embark.

The top is where the overcrowding will be most felt, and there is typically a queue at the cliff for people to enjoy the view or grab a picture.

If you really want to get that perfect picture, the best thing you can do is not hold up the queue by spending forever at the top. Instead, grab a few quick pictures, decide what you like or don’t like about them, and rejoin the queue for another attempt.

Lofoten

The Lofoten archipelago in Nordland is an all-year-round destination for several reasons. In the summer, it becomes a popular destination for hiking, kayaking, fishing, road trips, and more.

Overtourism has been an issue in the region for nearly a decade. It leads to congested roads, damage to the local environment from people leaving behind their waste, and degradation of hiking trails.

Pictured is a view of the scenery in Lofoten.

Photo by grace sungura on Unsplash

Despite a local population of around 24,500, the region receives hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.

READ ALSO: The five best things to do on Norway’s Lofoten Islands

Trollstigen

Arguably, Norway’s iconic road, Trollstigen, is visited by around one million people every year. This is especially impressive as the road is only open during the summer.

During high season, a car crosses the Trollstigveien Plateau every 10 seconds. Plenty of slower vehicles, such as coaches full of tourists, caravans, mobile homes, and cyclists, also take to the hills.

The road has been closed for the rest of 2024 due to the risk of rock falls. This means you won’t experience congested roads. One of the plateau’s with viewing platforms would remain open there, so there may be congestion from tourist coaches there.

Ålesund Fjellstua

The stunning town of Ålesund is unique for a few reasons.

Firstly, the gothic style in which the city was rebuilt following a fire is particularly unique for Norway. Secondly, a popular viewpoint at the top of the city offers a stunning view of the city and surrounding areas.

There are several ways to access the viewpoint, either through forest trails from outside the city centre or via accessible stairs leading the whole way up.

Overcrowding and vandalism have been issues at Fjellstua in recent years. Extreme congestion has also occurred on the narrow roads leading up to the viewpoint, which are regularly packed with tourists.

Gates have been installed at Fjellstua to try to prevent overcrowding.

Flåm

Two things attract visitors to Flåm, the world-famous railway and fjord cruises—many visitors to the region like to combine the two activities.

The town can become particularly overcrowded during the summer due to tourists spilling out from the cruise port.

The train journey, considered one of the most stunning in the world, can also struggle with overcrowding.

Flåm Railway.

You can take the Flåm Railway all year round. Photo by Daniele D’Andreti on Unsplash

The best bet would be to travel to the area outside of peak season, as the fjords aren’t going anywhere, and the train runs all year round.

Many experts recommend spring as the best time as you will be able to enjoy the trees and plants in the area flowering.

Geiranger

Gerignager has seen a steady increase in tourism since the fjord it shares its name with was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.

This makes the area a popular destination for cruise tourists. Despite only boasting a few hundred residents in the winter, tourists descend upon the town in their tens of thousands during the summer.

Overtourism has presented a difficult balancing act in the area. This is because measures have been announced to protect the area from the damage cruise ships do to the fjord.

However, local politicians have considered dropping the UNESCO tag in order to keep tourism money flooding into the local economy.

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