Visit Norway - Bergen

<body>  <p>Bergen is an important cultural centre in its region and in <a href="/norway/">Norway</a>, maybe best known for hosting the annual Bergen International Festival (Festspillene i Bergen). The city is home to the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, which was founded in 1765 and is one of the world's oldest orchestral institutions.The orchestra performs regularly at the 1,500 seat Grieg Hall. The city is also home of the Bergen Woodwind Quintet, which is made up primarily of principal winds of the Bergen Philharmonic. </p> <p>Bergen was a European Capital of Culture in 2000. Other main cultural events include Borealis, Nattjazz, Lost Weekend Festivalen and Bergenfest (formerly Ole Blues). There are numerous amateur bands in Bergen and the surrounding communities, performing regularly throughout the city. They generally fall within two distinct categories: brass bands, following the British band tradition, and Janitsjar or wind bands, which include both woodwind and brass instruments. Both of these types of bands tend to be quite competitive, and the Grieg Hall in Bergen is home to the annual Norwegian Brass Band Championships, which takes place in late winter. </p> <p>The Markens and Mathismarkens buekorps at Bryggen. A third category, perhaps unique to Bergen, are the Buekorps, a prominent feature in the Constitution Day celebrations in the city. Buekorps parade in the streets with wooden sticks shaped as guns or crossbows, sabres and even halberds, to a military snare sounded by several drummers. The performers are usually boys between 7 and 21 years of age, but older veterans can be seen. In recent times there are buekorps for girls and for both girls and boys as well. Buekorps are regarded with warmth by some, whilst others dislike them due to their militarised appearance or the dominant sound of the drumming.</p> <p>Text is available under the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_3.0_Unported_License">Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License</a>; additional terms may apply. </p>  <script src="http://www.google-analytics.com/urchin.js" type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> _uacct = "UA-119091-1"; urchinTracker(); </script> </body>