Thank you!

Today marks the end of the 2026 Bergen International Festival after 15 days of hundreds of concerts, performances, talks, and family events.

This year’s Artist in Residence was the acclaimed conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, who captivated both critics and audiences in a series of concerts with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, who have been this year’s Festival musicians. Their performance of the Turangalîla-Symphonie received widespread acclaim. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, one of Europe's most influential newspapers, wrote that the concert created "a blessed feeling of disappearing from the world".

"Our vision is for art to matter more to more people, and we are especially proud that almost half of the programme is free and open for everyone. At a time marked by uncertainty and fragmentation, we see that audiences seek shared experiences and spaces where they can listen and be together," says Festival Director Lars Petter Hagen.

This year's Festival concluded with more than 84,000 attendances, the highest figure in ten years. Overall venue occupancy reached 87%, the highest level at the Festival since the early 1990s.

More than 40,000 people took part in the Festival’s many free events this year, which are open to everyone and suitable for the whole family. The Festival also recorded the strongest ticket sales in ten years, with a total of 36,000 tickets issued.