{"id":144616,"date":"2026-08-12T21:21:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T21:21:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/144616\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T21:21:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T21:21:14","slug":"how-norways-oyafestivalen-became-one-of-europes-best-music-fests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/144616\/","title":{"rendered":"How Norway’s \u00d8yafestivalen Became One of Europe’s Best Music Fests"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tIn a year without Glastonbury, music lovers have turned to other festivals in the U.K. and Europe to fill the void. There\u2019s Primavera Sound in Barcelona, with its proximity to the beach and genre-diverse lineup, or Reading and Leeds in England for those who want a true camping experience with a rock-focused flair. But look a little further north and you\u2019ll find a hidden gem that\u2019s capturing the attention of both festivalgoers and artists around the world: \u00d8yafestivalen in Oslo, Norway<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tCompared to a juggernaut festival like Glasto \u2014 known for its sprawling grounds, mandatory camping and rowdy atmosphere \u2014 \u00d8ya, which kicks off on Wednesday, delivers a more intimate experience. The capacity is about 10 times less (with 22,000 people expected to attend each day this year), it\u2019s held in T\u00f8yen Park in the middle of Oslo and there\u2019s a certain Scandinavian politeness that seems to keep people from getting completely off their faces. But over the past decade or so, \u00d8ya has consistently delivered huge headliners and some of the best, most varied lineup curation on the festival scene, booking everyone from Blur to Kendrick Lamar to Charli xcx.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis year\u2019s four-day lineup is headlined by the Cure, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Sombr and homegrown artist Dagny<\/a>, but also includes Geese, Wilco, Lily Allen, Clipse, Blood Orange and Tomora (the collaboration between Chemical Brothers\u2019 Tom Rowlands and Norwegian singer Aurora). There\u2019s truly something for everyone, and its relatively small capacity, lack of huge crowds and overall peaceful vibe make it possible to actually see the artist you\u2019re watching.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cEverybody can book a big headliner and put on a big show, but it\u2019s the details and taking care of everything \u2014 being really nerdy on where you put the toilets and the bars and the sound bleed between the stages \u2014 all these things are very important,\u201d says Claes Olsen, who co-founded the festival in 1999 and serves as its booking manager. \u201cThat\u2019s what makes it unique.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s such an enjoyable experience for artists and attendees alike that many of them \u2014 like the Cure, Nick Cave, Wilco and Blood Orange this year \u2014 are repeat bookings. As its profile has grown worldwide, Olsen says artist requests to play the festival have increased as well. Nowadays, \u00d8ya books its lineup up to 17 months in advance.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re getting tons [of requests] every day,\u201d Olsen says. \u201cSo as a booker, one of the most important jobs we actually do is to say no to people, which is not that fun. It\u2019s hard. But of course, we also have to reach out a lot.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tSomething Olsen is particularly proud of is that the Cure \u2014 who previously headlined the fest in 2019 \u2014 asked to come back before the band plans to retire in 2029. \u201cWe got an email from the agent for the Cure saying that Robert Smith wanted to play \u00d8ya before they stopped being the Cure,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve been a fan since I was a teenager, so that was pretty amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tRobert Smith from the Cure at \u00d8ya Fest in 2019.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRedferns<\/p>\n

\n\tBut it\u2019s not just about attracting acts from the U.K. and U.S. for \u00d8ya \u2014 the festival puts a huge emphasis on local Norwegian artists, mixing them in throughout each day so it\u2019s \u201cnot just them playing first and hoping somebody shows up,\u201d Olsen says. And, the headlining spot on Saturday, the final day of the festival, always goes to a homegrown artist. This year, it\u2019s dance-pop singer Dagny (pictured above), who hails from the city of Troms\u00f8 and broke through with hits like \u201cSomebody\u201d and \u201cDrink About.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFor Dagny, headlining \u00d8ya has always been a dream, ever since she first played on a small stage at the festival a decade ago. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of my Madison Square Garden, if you know what I mean,\u201d she says. \u201c\u00d8ya is one of those festivals where I feel like people are so open to music and to just being present, right there and then in the crowd. It\u2019s really one of my favorites.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tShe just released her third album, \u201cDancefloor Erotica,\u201d which leans more into electro-pop and marks a real creative milestone in her career. \u201cI feel weirdly out of my comfort zone, but at the same time I feel like I\u2019m where I want to be,\u201d Dagny says. \u201cWe have such a different energy now playing this record \u2014 it\u2019s a bit darker, it\u2019s a bit heavier, a bit more danceable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAnother priority for \u00d8ya is gender parity, with the festival committing to a roughly even split between male and female performers. This year, Saturday\u2019s main stage lineup is only women, headlined by Dagny but also including Lily Allen, Irish breakout CMAT and U.S. singer Hannah Cohen.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c\u00d8ya is real proof that [gender parity] doesn\u2019t have to be a problem because they\u2019re probably the biggest Norwegian festival and they always seem to get a pretty even balance,\u201d Dagny says. \u201cNot only am I the headliner on that stage with lots of female artists that day, but I think I\u2019m also something like the fifth or sixth female artist to headline that slot in the last few years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThis was of the utmost importance to U.K.-based feminist band Girl Group<\/a> \u2014 four out of five members of which hail from Oslo \u2014 who are playing \u00d8ya for the first time. Having formed at the Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts in response to the male-dominated culture they experienced, Girl Group only works with women and nonbinary people, from the music-making process down to their videos and photography.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThey care a lot about the environment and feminism, and they try to make active choices for society, not just the festival itself,\u201d Girl Group\u2019s Mia Halvorsen says of \u00d8ya. \u201cFor us, being on a lineup with all the women we really value feels very special and meaningful. And obviously, our project is very political and very feminist, so it feels good to be seeing a bit more of that in festivals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tGirl Group<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSerskaten<\/p>\n

\n\tIn addition to its gender split pledge, \u00d8ya is regularly recognized as one of the leaders in festival sustainability<\/a>, prioritizing waste management, stopping the use of fuel generators in 2008, and only serving meat-free food since 2024. Last year, the fest added human rights to this initiative, and is once again partnering with Amnesty International to fundraise for medical aid in Palestine.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWorking with Amnesty has helped us a lot to educate ourselves on the whole human rights situation, not only in Palestine but other places in the world as well,\u201d Olsen says. \u201cThat work is super important going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs \u00d8ya has grown on the global stage, Norway as a whole has been experiencing a bit of a cultural moment. From Joachim Trier\u2019s \u201cSentimental Value\u201d bringing the country its first international feature Oscar earlier this year to their football team making it to the World Cup semi-finals, Norway\u2019s profile is rapidly rising.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s good to see Norwegian people charming the world a bit,\u201d Olsen says. \u201cIt\u2019s been really hard groundwork for the last 10 years, so I hope that continues.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDagny has not only observed an uptick in Norwegian artists being recognized internationally, but also on a local scale. \u201cMusic in the mother tongue has completely gone up,\u201d she says. \u201cI think after COVID, it\u2019s pretty much just been Norwegian music that has been happening in Norway, with a few exceptions. Seeing how many Norwegian artists are doing so great, it\u2019s helping to raise everyone\u2019s bar of where we\u2019re going to be at.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHaving lived in the U.K. for nearly a decade before moving back to Oslo before the pandemic, Dagny also believes that Norway\u2019s environment contributes to her creative output. \u201cNorway is thankfully a small and peaceful place, and sometimes what you need to be creative is time and space and quiet,\u201d she says. \u201cI think there is maybe something to the fact that I didn\u2019t write an album until I moved back to Norway.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tGirl Group, who are currently based in Liverpool, have come to a similar realization \u2014 though for them, the artistic freedom they feel in Norway can be traced back to the way the country is run. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe are a socialist country, we pay taxes, we have good education,\u201d says Girl Group\u2019s Katya Birkeland. \u201cWhen you have good education, you get good directors, people who get to do acting, people who get to spend their time practicing football \u2014 you get people who get to do what they love.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAdds member Maria Tollisen, \u201cI think you need to be privileged and have a bit of financial safety and stability in order to be able to do art.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tBeyond just spotlighting homegrown acts, \u00d8ya also serves as a bit of a reunion for the local scene. \u201cIf you\u2019re in a certain music scene in Oslo, it\u2019s almost impossible to not have met a lot of [the acts],\u201d Dagny says, mentioning that she\u2019s looking forward to catching up-and-coming artist Ary and Tomora at the festival.<\/p>\n

\n\tGirl Group also mentions Ary as a must-see artist, as well as the band Three40Four and singer-songwriters Elia and Ea Othilde. \u201cOne of my childhood best friends is a dancer for [Ary] now and I\u2019ve not seen her for ages,\u201d Birkeland says. \u201cI can\u2019t wait!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a year without Glastonbury, music lovers have turned to other festivals in the U.K. and Europe to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":144617,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[85],"tags":[69048,69049,157,156,38130],"class_list":["post-144616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oslo","tag-dagny","tag-girl-group","tag-norway","tag-oslo","tag-oya-festival"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/117084637411312629","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}