Report from Døgnvill festival in Tromsø

Døgnvill is a kind of arctic, yet urban, music festival. Tromsø is located 500 miles above the Arctic Circle and it was definitely the coldest festival I’ve ever been to. You could see snow-capped mountains from the festival area and cold air vapor were clearly visible from the singers. Most festivals I’ve been to have had very strict policy regarding under-aged visitors and alcohol, but this one was clearly an exception. Perhaps to survive the cold rain?

However, this was their fourth year as a festival and several well-known artists had defied the cold to get here. The Tromsø-originating band Bel Canto had their original band setting for the first time in 20 years, including Geir Jenssen of Biosphere fame.

Anneli Drecker, Bel Canto live at Døgnvill.

The national heroes of a-ha entered the stage on Friday and people loved every second of it. Morten Harket charmed the ladies and showed that he can still take the higher notes, even though he managed to crack the voice during the high notes of Stay on these roads. Anneli Drecker from Bel Canto joined the stage for two songs.

Morten Harkett, a-ha live at Døgnvill.

The prince of darkness himself, Ozzy Osbourne descended upon Tromsø and got the audience in metal mode. I wouldn’t want to swap places with the tshirt-wearing teenagers in front row that were splashed by Ozzy’s foam hose. Hello pneumonia.

The Prodigy ended the festival and it was my favorite concert of the weekend. Despite pouring cold rain, the audience were jumping like crazy and I danced until my foot started to hurt.

But there was more to the area than darkness and rain. During daytime we rented a car and explored the surrounding countryside with impressive fjords and mountains. It was fun to drive across narrow bridges with only room for one car at a time. Felt like a sort of chicken race to get across before the opposing cars.

We had a look at the craters from the bombing of Tirpitz, had arctic coffee at Sommarøya and discovered a floating house in Lyngseidet. Only in Norway, folks.