Vinje Rock is a festival that takes place in Norway at 1060 meters above sea level in Eidsbugarden in the Jotunheimen mountain area, 4 hours by bus from Oslo in South-West Norway: rest assured that a breath-taking mountain panorama will bewitch you throughout your stay.
The festival is named after the poet Aasmund Olavsson Vinje who built the first cabin in Eidsbugarden and gave the name of Jotunheimen to the surrounding mountains: it is a festival that embodies the typical Norwegian way of life with music, trekking trails, and mountain life.
At Vinje Rock you will find the most varied sport activities and courses from morning until afternoon and instead from the afternoon until late at night you could experience a varied and rich musical selection. However, it is advisable to wear sportswear to undertake mountain hikes and above all to wear at night time a heavy sweater because at 1060 meters even in Summer in Norway you might have some freezing surprise after sunset.
Alongside the sport activities we find big names of Norwegian Pop music, Indie Rock, Folk Rock, Jazz, Soul and numerous DJs to satisfy that younger and party crowd of Vinje Rock whom has the chance to enjoy even a cool “Silent Disco” (all the participants wear headphones which play simultaneously the same music).
In this edition (just to name a few) there were the Ladama playing alternative Latin American music with soul rhythms, ISÁK with songs in Sami (ancient language of the indigenous people of Scandinavia) combined with English texts, dance-oriented jazz sound of Moon Hooch, pop stars Sigrid and Aurora, the DJ & Drums sound of Kickslip, experimental rock by the band MaidaVale, alternative indie by Thea Hjelmeland, the big band Vinjefolk and even one of the most important DJs of the Oslo scene, DJ Herkules.
In addition to the musical proposal there are excursions to the surrounding peaks, Uranostind and Falketind, and even walks along the glacier, these excursions range from amateur walks, to safaris aiming to discover flora and fauna, to more challenging trekking routes marked by a black difficulty grade, but you won’t have to worry about anything since you will be accompanied by expert mountain guides of the historic Norwegian hiking association DNT.
Here goes a special mention to the “walk for lonely mountain hearts“, if you are in an age considered between the ages of 20 and 30 you will have access to an excursion that favours the formation of couples, you will be provided with a hat indicating your sentimental situation: green means free, orange perhaps in search of contact and red stands for busy. What’s better to find love in the High Mountains?
After the trekking activities there are also kayak trips, SUP courses (Stand up paddle), SUP-yoga, and fishing courses, running, and use of the compass, then there are first-aid courses, mountain-landscape photography courses, sewing classes and storytelling, stories of excursions and adventurous journeys undertaken by expert mountaineers and even speeches given by a biologist associated to WWF, there’s even the possibility to participate in a colourful mountain Pride.
To conclude Vinje Rock Festival is a pearl of music, nature and mountain culture that shines high on the mountains of Jotunheimen, recommended to all those who want to venture up there and discover another life.
Written and Translated by Gerardo Iannacci
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