The festival takes place biannually in October. The next festival is in 2021.
The Nuuk Nordic Festival was created in 2015 with the purpose of highlighting art and culture throughout the Nordic region. The foundation of the festival is a great hospitality that is to open the doors of Greenland for Nordic and international guests, but also to serve the best Greenland has to offer of artistic talent. The festival is host to typically more than 150 artists in over 40 venues around the city. The festival is based on a wide definition of culture, and therefore, you can find everything from performing arts, art, architecture, literature and music to food events during Nuuk Nordic.
The festival is based on a heart warm participant atmosphere, so if you are even the slightest interested in Nordic culture, it makes perfect sense to pack your culture glasses and plan your autumn holiday after the next festival. Even if you are not the great art connoisseur there are plenty of good reasons to stop by. Hopefully, this article can inspire you to a few cultural experiences that you would not want to miss out on.
Continues further down the page...
Every year Nuuk Nordic is opened with a show of Arctic dimension with a taste of a lot of what really is the cream of the crop of the Greenlandic cultural scene. The show consists of a concert, theatre, dance and speeches by the local politicians and festival organizers. One can be sure to feel the local spirit, when happy and excited families, children and grandparents from all over Nuuk gather. I have yet to make it through an opening show without shedding a tear, so this is definitely an event, which you do not want to miss.
Modern performing arts thrives during Nuuk Nordic, where different venues such as The National Theatre of Greenland, Katuaq and Nuuk Art Museum host modern drama, children’s shows, storytelling and performance art.
Theatre and performance can be found everywhere in the Greenlandic culture, and Greenland has a proud, and thousand year old, history of theatre, where one can also find traditional ways of expression. You should really allow yourself to drop by an event with scary and entertaining mask dancing, magical catchy drum dancing or cozy-scary storytelling.
In the Arctic winters good laughs and thrills are essential and great stories come highly valued. Thus, the Greenlandic literature is based on a year-long oral tradition, legends and myths. In the last couple of years the literature has also had a renaissance with breakthroughs in modern poetry, short stories, crime stories, novels and tales. At the festival you can typically also experience tales on life in the Nordic region from prominent international actors. Drop by the national library or the university where you are sure to find good literary events, or, alternatively, you can flick through some of the Greenlandic works that are not easy to find anywhere else.
During the festival the nooks and crannies of the city are transformed into exhibition spaces and visual venues. Nuuk Center will be home to photographic exhibitions, Katuaq to installations and the city streets will be used to shine a light on buildings that are normally just a part of the everyday visual noise. Even the permanent exhibitions at the Nuuk Art Museum, the local museum and the National Museum are joined by new artistic guests. Nuuk Nordic focuses on visual culture and architecture in a number of ways, and all you have to do is keep your eyes open and be lead to a wide array of very different events. Whether you are into the national costumes or ground breaking Icelandic experiments, you can find what suits you. Even if museums usually makes you drowsy, you will have ample opportunity to gain a new perspective on the urban space, when overlooked architectural gems open their usually closed doors and host talks, concerts and workshops.
Music is an integral part of the social life in Greenland and it always has been. From Open Mic at the local bars to the Nordic Concert Choir, Nuuk is home to a vibrant music scene that really blossoms during the festival. The musicians work with one another and this opens for collaborations with international musical talents. This creates a unique sound on an international level combined with the pulse of the city. Put your warm winter gear on and venture out into the evening darkness to find one of the many concerts that Nuuk welcomes you to. Here you will find music experiences out of the ordinary.
Once you have walked around the frozen paths in the capital in order to find your way to all the great cultural experiences, you will be happy to know that Nuuk Nordic also caters to your stomach. Luckily the festival takes place during one of the high seasons when it comes to great Greenlandic produce: the autumn. Eat your way through the food events and eateries in the city and taste musk ox, reindeer, salmon, halibut, cod, snow crab or something completely different. Drink an official festival beer at Godthaab Bryghus. Or do as the Greenlanders do and find the local coffee shop or a kaffemik-event, where you can warm your hands and feet while enjoying cake and steaming hot coffee.
Still no convinced? Nuuk Nordic takes place in the great and colourful capital of Greenland. Therefore, the festival backdrop is Nuuk with everything that the city offers, from boat trips on the fjord, hikes in nature, great conversations with the locals and visits to the many sights and restaurants of the city. Already interested in an Arctic city getaway, here you can add to that a festival with events to suit everyone. The festival opens up corners and nooks, which were otherwise easily overlooked, and you are therefore given the opportunity to see the city from completely new angles.
I promise you that strolling from a cosy living room with music and great stories through the city in the evening, looking up at the sky that is lit by the dancing northern lights is worth the entire trip. That is the recipe for the Nuuk Nordic Culture Festival.
Want to learn more about the Nuuk Nordic Culture Festival? Then read this article on the music of the Nuuk Nordic Culture Festival 2017.
Did you read the article and pack your suitcase? Then follow our event calendar, where we announce the dates for the next Nuuk Nordic Culture Festival!
