Norwegian Wood Festival 2018 in Oslo

The Norwegian Wood Festival is a three-day revelry held annually in mid-June at Frognerbadet—an open-air public bath. Since 1992 it has seen a number of established artists such as Sting, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Roger Waters, Lou Reed and Tori Amos, as well as less known local singers.

The name of the festival refers to the Beatles song ‘Norwegian Wood' or 'This Bird Has Flown’. The festival was founded by Jørgen Roll, Sten Fredriksen and Haakon Hartvedt. One of the biggest festivals in Norway, it draws a broad audience – you will find huge crowds of people of all ages surrounding its main stage. It is considered to be the festival for ‘mature’ music fans with a very impressive lineup. However, not everybody in the audience is behaving mature​ly. For example, David Bowie got a lollipop in his eye during his concert at Norwegian Wood in 2004.

The festival is held near two swimming pools and a park area, which are very popular throughout the summer.

The main stage is surrounded by hills, which ensures that everyone has a good view of the performances. It's also great that there's an option to buy a Festivalpass that covers all three days, or "Dagspass" if you wish to be there for just one day. Regarding the age, there are no restrictions—everybody is welcome to join the party.

Norwegian Underwood is a newer festival initiative which allows less known bands to play to broad audiences. Several Norwegian bands have started their road to fame here.