Borealis – a festival for experimental music 2023

In 2023 it will be 20 festivals since Borealis was born, which means 20 years of amazing experimental music in Bergen, Norway!
For the anniversary festival Borealis is looking back and forward at what music and listening can be. Whether its doom metal in cathedrals, dancing cranes in city squares or noise music in recycling centres there are many special memories from 20 years of Borealis. 15–19 March 2023 we celebrate everything Borealis is, has been, and will be!

Borealis is a festival for genre crossing music and art that takes place over 5 days each March in Bergen, Norway. The festival presents concerts, installations, performances, lectures, film screenings and radio broadcasts at concert venues of all sizes across the city – from art galleries and cultural arenas to surprising places you may not have visited before. Borealis is a place for adventurous listeners, celebrating music that doesn’t fit neatly in to any boxes. We present new projects from Norway and around the world that push the boundaries of what music is and how we listen. Borealis was founded in 2003 with the first festival organised in 2004.

"Borealis’ programming always impresses year-after-year, affording both new attendees and returning audiences the opportunity to engage with radical artists and ideas. (...) As institutions make efforts to diversify their programming, the importance of seeing each other as human beings is often forgotten in the pursuit of better optics, but Borealis’ genuine and supportive relationships with artists continue to be a prime example of community building done right." Amanda Cook, icareifyoulisten.com