Karlsøy Yurt

    Karlsøy Yurt is Karlsøyfestivalen's new building project, which is planned to be completed in 2023.

    The purpose of the project is to build a new, simple cultural building in connection with the Karlsøy Festival, which will function as a production and screening arena for dance and other performing arts. In addition, a yurt is also ideal as a classroom, course room and exhibition room, which opens up various forms of activities throughout the year and not just during a short and intense period around the festival itself.

    Visiting artists can work on their projects in the Yurta, while staying in the island's guesthouse, in mobile units on the festival site or on a flat bed in the festival house. The aim is for Yurta to ensure that Karlsøya can offer simple but qualitatively good working conditions for independent groups within the performing arts field in Northern Norway.

    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/user:Bgelo777

    Background for the project:

    Karlsøy in Troms is a place with a strong identity and history. The festival as a cross-artistic and long-term arena provides a good basis for establishing a year-round arena in connection with infrastructure in the form of kitchens, toilets and showers in the festival house.

    In recent years, it has been difficult to find rooms, places to stay and residences for all the artists who want to spend time on the island to work on various art projects. There is a large and growing need for sample and production space not only locally on Karlsøya and in Karlsøy municipality, but also in Tromsø, Nord-Troms, Troms and Finnmark and Northern Norway in general. 

    Objectives for the project:

    Build a new arena that:

    • Shall strengthen the executive environment on the island and in the region.
    • Shall facilitate the presentation of performing arts at the Karlsøy Festival.
    • Will accommodate production facilities and be a permanent arena for the free performing arts field. 
    • Should be able to be a performing arts laboratory / research stage / residence space.
    • Can accommodate guest games and be a dynamic arena for cultural exchange and collaboration.

    Karlsøyyurta is supported by:

    Troms and Finnmark County Municipality

    Norwegian Council of Culture

    Bergesenstiftelsen'

    We want your feedback and participation:

    This is an invitation to all groups and individuals who would like to help strengthen this opportunity. It is essential that an arena like this has a broad and solid anchoring in the region and in the performing environments that exist, so that KarlsøyYurta can become a useful and widely used supplement to other existing free scenes in Northern Norway.

    The Karlsøy Festival invites you to a vision workshop on Karlsøya on 29 and 30 April. The weekend will be used for conversations about how KarlsøyYurta can best meet regional needs and social community with good local food. Those who wish can also stay and join in celebrating May 1 on Karlsøya.

    Participants in the vision workshop will have access to simple accommodation and food with the option of having travel costs covered,

    Fill in the form below if you are interested in participating in the vision workshop and helping to develop a new arena for work with performing arts on Karlsøya.

    During the vision workshop, we will also work on preparing the opening performance that will take place during the Karlsøy Festival. You can also take part in the vision weekend without attending the opening performance.

    In the form, we also ask you to share some initial thoughts about KarlsøYurta. These are the questions we want to work on more during the vision weekend. We don't expect you to have very well-thought-out answers right now. The questions are there more to start some thoughts so that you can be a little better prepared for which topics we want to talk about before we meet.

    Registration must be sent by 20 March. The application form is now closed. If you are still interested in taking part, you can send an email to booking@karlsøyfestivalen.no with KarlsøyYurta in the subject field.