«The Winter Festival in Narvik”: VINTERFESTUKA

Once a year, a city in northern Norway bursts into life just as the sun once again conquers the dark arctic winter. For ten days, in a city that doesn’t sleep, everyone is thrown into a joyous cultural festival, filled with concerts, dance, theatre, art, exhibitions and street animation.

Visiting Narvik during Vinterfestuka is like a time travel back to the end of the 18th century, when the world’s most northerly railway was built. Under the northern light, the midnight sun and during winter storms – the Navvies relentlessly shaped a railway line through the Arctic mountains. Honoring these achievments everyone, young and old, dresses up in historic clothes. Women wear long dresses and skirts, and men wear navvy hats and scarves.

The people of Narvik really put their heart and soul into this festival, exuding warmth, joy and hospitality. No wonder visitors are baffled, even speechless at times. Having experienced Vinterfestuka once, visitors tend to come back year after year.