ABOUT

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

The Øya Festival is a festival put together by music lovers, for music lovers, and with a focus on presenting a cutting-edge bill with a big, Scandinavian heart. Where else would you find such great and diverse artists as The Knife, Band Of Horses, High On Fire, Beck, and Yoko Ono all sharing the same backstage?

The Øya Festival is held in what is called the Medieval Park in Oslo, Norway – a beautiful spot surrounded by white, sandy beaches, the Oslo Fjord to the south, and the Oslo skyline to the west. The Medieval Park is also the site on which the capital of Norway was founded a thousand years ago – and it’s only a short walk to the city center of Oslo, which creates an exciting rendezvous between nature and culture.

“The setting of the Oya Festival is insane. It’s at the foot of some lush hills that rise out of the fjords (okay, ocean), and there’s a stretch of fjord that’s been made into a river that serves as the moat-like border of the site’s front end.”- The Fader

“A great eclectic mix of bands in a beautiful setting in a fantastic city, Øya is a refreshing alternative to the summer’s rash of mega-rock gatherings – the small festival with a big heart. See you next year!”- The Guardian

“This is a gem of a festival. See you in Oslo next year – start saving up for beer money now!” – The Times

“But, of course, the biggest draw was the line-up.” – The Sun

Audience and artists are presented with a festival area consisting of trees, green grass, and water, accompanied by stages, shopping streets, and small shops serving drink and food (prepared – in fact! – by the best young chefs of Oslo). The Eastside, where the Medieval Park is located, is undoubtedly where the action is when it comes to Norwegian music, and the area is also the nation’s primary cultural melting pot. In the years to come, several hundred million Norwegian “kroner”, both state and private, will be invested here, for the development of new housing areas, and the new Opera House, which will be the Medieval Park’s closest neighbor in the Harbor area.

THE ØYA FESTIVAL 2010
Oslo, August 10-14

Open air site: August 11 + 12 + 13 + 14
Capacity : 16.000 pr. day
Stages : 4 (Enga – capacity: 12000, Sjøsiden – cap.: 6500, Vika, cap.: 3500, Klubben – cap.: 2000)

Club shows: August 10-14
30 clubs in the Oslo city center, with a total capacity of 6000 people.

INTERNATIONAL ACTS THAT HAVE PREVIOUSLY PERFORMED AT THE ØYA FESTIVAL:

Nine Inch Nails / Morrissey / My Bloody Valentine / Grinderman / Beck / Sonic Youth / Primal Scream / The Jesus & Mary Chain / Franz Ferdinand / Tool / Sigur Ros / Justice / Devendra Banhart / Hot Chip / Dinosaur Jr. / Eagles Of Death Metal / Lily Allen / …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead / Yeasayer / Clipse / N.E.R.D. / Isis / Diplo / Sunn O))) / Dirty Pretty Things / Fleet Foxes / Lykke Li / Okkervil River / Bonde Do Role / Air / The Cramps / CocoRosie / Spiritualized / The Knife / !!! / The National / A Place To Bury Strangers / Best Fwends / Booka Shade / The Bug / Buraka Som Sistema / Coliseum / Cut Copy / Dark Meat / The Death Set / Dengue Fever / The Dodos / Girl Talk / Health! / Håkan Hellstrøm / Holy Fuck / Iron & Wine / Jamie Lidell / The Mae Shi / Metronomy / Janelle Monae / The Night Marchers / No Age / The Notwist / The Presets / Saviours / The Sonics / Telepathe / The Urges / Spank Rock / Yo Majesty / Spoon / Midlake / Band Of Horses / The Fall / The Go! Team / The Twilight Singers / Les Savy Fav / High On Fire / Battles / Roky Erickson & The Explosives / Besnard Lakes / Architecture In Helsinki / Black Mountain / Maxïmo Park / Love Is All / TTC / Liars / Boredoms / Brakes / The Dears / Tv On The Radio / Lemonheads / Yoko Ono / Four Tet w/ Steve Reid / The Polyphonic Spree / Babyshambles / Velvet Revolver / Hot Hot Heat / The Streets / The Magic Numbers / Sleater Kinney / Tinariwen / Roots Manuva / Sons and Daughters / Saul Williams / The Bees / Calexico / Mark Lanegan / Bobby Conn / Mínus / Yeah Yeah Yeahs / Death From Above 1979 / Fischerspooner / Will Oldham aka Bonnie Prince Billy / The Hives / Wolf Parade / The Posies / Mogwai / St. Etienne / Tortoise / Cheeseburger / Chicks On Speed / Asian Dub Foundation / Ladybug Transistor / Timbuktu / Soundtrack Of Our Lives / Buck 65 / Pretty Girls Makes Graves / Blood Brothers / Sleater Kinney / Union Carbide Production / Nancy Sinatra / Northern State / Faze Action Live / Blonde Redhead / Danko Jones / Moneybrother / Mando Diao / Heavy Trash / Silverbullit / Backyard Babies / Sean O ’Hagan (High Llamas) / New Pornographers / Vue / Matt and Kim / Malajube

HIGHLIGHTS, NORWEGIAN ARTISTS:

Röyksopp / Turbonegro / Kings Of Convenience / Mayhem / New Violators / Serena Maneesh / Lionheart Brothers / Ida Maria / Monomen / Enslaved / Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas / Ralph Meyers & The Jack Herren Band / Satyricon / Enslaved / Magnet / Hanne Hukkelberg / Nils Petter Molvær / Kim Hiorthøy / Pleasure / Susanna & The Magical Orchestra / Madrugada / Xploding Plastix / Gluecifer / Bonk / Jaga Jazzist / The Cheaters / Ricochets / KILLL / King Midas / Savoy / Animal Alpha / Euroboys / The Goo Men / Midnight Choir / Motorpsycho / Apoptygma Berzerk / Ephemera / Kaizers Orchestra / Jazkammer / Silver / The International Tussler Society / Cato Salsa Experience / Sondre Lerche / JR Ewing

ATTENDANCE NUMBERS
2009: 85 000 (four days) – sold out in advance
2008: 75.000 (four days) – sold out in advance
2007: 65.000 (four days) – sold out in advance
2006: 50.000 (three days) – sold out in advance
2005: 45.000 (three days) – sold out in advance
2004: 35.000 (three days) – sold out in advance
2003: 25.000 (two days) – sold out in advance
2002: 16.000 (two days) – sold out in advance
2001: 7500 (two days)
2000: 4000 (two days)
1999: 1200 (one day)

SOME THINGS WE ARE PROUD OF:

The 2002 – 2009 festivals were all sold out in advance!
We had 85.000 visitors in 2009, but there wasn’t a single arrest!
We’re the largest and coolest outdoor music festival in Oslo, the capital of Norway.
The Øya Festival is among the group of Norwegian festivals that receives the most media coverage.
We are proud to serve our crew, audiense and artists a large amout of organic food.
We were awarded the most environmentally friendly festival in Europe at the European Festival Awards in January 2010 .