It’s that beautiful time of year again when Kulturnatt, Trondheim’s culture night full of free events and programmes, takes over the city. The festival takes place this week on Friday, the 16th of September, and we’re super excited. Although, there’s one massive problem with Kulturnatt… there are too many exciting things happening!
This year, Trondheim’s biggest one-day festival celebrates its 10-year anniversary so there are more concerts, exhibitions, and workshops than ever before. You should definitely check out the full programme here, but to help you out a bit, The List editorial team has picked the events we’re most excited about this year.
Hopefully, it’ll make it a little bit easier for you to find cool stuff to enjoy ;)
Food, glorious food
First up, you can’t enjoy art and culture on an empty stomach (at least we can’t). So our plan is to gorge on delicious food to make sure we have the fuel we need to experience everything that Kulturnatt has to offer.
At 12 o’clock sharp on Friday, Tour de Food food trucks will be rolling into Torvet — the central plaza of Trondheim — and will be serving up an incredible variety of dishes until 23:00 in the evening. This moving food festival offers great culinary experiences from all over the world, whether it’s empanadas, bao buns, or Dutch cheese, and will stay in Trondheim over the weekend in case you’re still craving to go back for more after Kulturnatt.
At 15:00, a ‘food casino’ will open up at Olavstorget inside Olavshallen featuring exciting street food. The way the casino works is you buy chips at the counter which you can then spend on various dishes. You’ll also be entered into a raffle where you’ll have the chance to win great dining experiences.
These are the two biggest food activities at Kulturnatt, but there are some delicious surprises sprinkled throughout the programme. For example, you’ll have the chance to enjoy authentic Palestinian food at the Palestinian evening alongside thought-provoking lectures — so make sure to keep an eye out for tasty treats during the festival.
Vibrant art
A big part of enjoying Kulturnatt is discovering new artists and experiencing art directly. This year we plan to check out a number of exhibitions and events, for example, watch Jørgen Sellevold and Morten Almaas do a live graffiti mural at Olavshallen. It’s best to catch them between 15:00 to 16:30 and then again after 17:30 and into the night as they finish. We’ll also drop by the opening of Linnéa Johansson’s art exhibition ROT, which will take place at Olavshallen as well between 17:00 and 20:00 — as her comics have often been featured in The List magazine.
This Friday will also be the perfect time to visit Trøndelag Center for Contemporary Art as it’s open long into the night with various events taking place there. We’re also excited to check out Trondheim Art Museum, both at the Gråmølna location by Solsiden as well as the main building by Nidarosdomen. There’ll be a guided tour by the museum’s director, a chance to talk to Håkon Bleken whose exhibition is now at Gråmølna, and peek behind the curtains into the vaults of the museum along with loads of other events — so make sure to grab your free ticket here.
And definitely don’t miss out on the mighty ‘Discopung’ (Discoballs) at KUK, which is quite a sight to behold. At 19:00 there’ll be a discussion with Roald Andersen, the artist behind this curious piece, about how Discopung came about as well as men’s health. Following Roald’s talk, Gunnar Øra Jr. and Torgrim Schrøder will take over and put choice records on for a heated disco part that’ll last long into the night.
Curious history
Trondheim is a historical city and it really shows during Kulurnatt as history buffs and
Some of The List crew will be hanging out at The Armoury, a.k.a. The Defense Museum Rustkammeret which will be open 16:00-23:00 and will feature lectures on Norway in Afghanistan, tours telling the history of Vikings to Norway’s independence and the resistance struggle in Trøndelag during WW2, to name a few.
You’ll also get a chance on Friday to enjoy free tours at The Justice Museum from 19:00 to 22:00 and visit the Secret Synagogue hiding in the attic of the Trondheim Methodist Church.
In Bakklandet, there’ll be a free musical tour of the past starting at 19:00, 20:00, and 21:00. Anna Dorothea will lead you on a journey through the Baroque era and the history of Bakke church, in addition to musical performances by baroque singer Hilde Gjermundsen and lutenist Jørgen Skogmo.
So much more!
We weren’t kidding when we said it was almost a problem how many cool things. We’re big into nerd culture, so we’ll definitely swing by the Central Library (Hovedbibliotek) for board games, cosplay, and dragon mask workshops. The ISAK cultural centre will also offer board games, origami, and K-POP dancing while the Trondhjem Art Association will have a workshop on making your own coat of arms.
Then of course there’s all the music, literature, and film events!
The ‘80s classic The Never Ending Story will be shown at DIGS along with free popcorn and Cinemateket is hosting a short film bonanza at 18:00, 19:30, and 21:00 by local filmmakers (they’re really good, we’ve seen them!). For lovers of literature, there are open mic poetry and blackout poetry workshops in the Central Library. Then there’s music to be found everywhere in the city during Kulturnatt! Mysterious sound experiences in cathedrals, Senegalese bands, traditional Chinese harp performances, funky big bands, and loads more!
Honestly, we’ve tried our best to cover all the cool things at Kulturnatt, but you’ll need to dive into the full programme to discover all the festival has to offer!