Lighting up the Arctic
Bodo in Norway is a 2024 European Capital of Culture and plans to celebrate with a spectacular ceremony – and an opera about fish
IAM strolling along the Bodo harbour quayside, gulping salty air while gazing in awe at spiky green islands and encircling granite peaks dusted with snow. It is simply world class, the setting of this city sandwiched between mountains and sea just inside the Arctic Circle.
When Bodo (pronounced ‘bowdah’), together with the outlying Nordland County, was announced as a 2024 European Capital of Culture, there was bewilderment in Norway. The government had told the bidding committee not to bother applying and offered zero financial support. But the bigwigs in Oslo had reckoned without the Viking-esque feistiness of their goit-alone compatriots way up north.
Nothing illustrates this spirit better than the decision to hold the opening ceremony on February 3 next year on a floating stage in the harbour – and Queen Sonja of Norway will be in attendance in the deep Arctic mid-winter.
The stage designed to mimic an otolith – which, as we all know, is the tiny ear bone inside fish.
‘It is going to be mind-blowing, especially if the Northern Lights come out to play that night,’ says Julie Abelsen, of the tourist office, when I meet her in the city centre. ‘Light represents hope for the future and is one of our themes.’
‘Cold to cool’ is a theme reflected in huge multi-coloured walls where avant-garde street artists have let loose. There is a striking new waterfront library, a thriving café culture and restaurants serving dishes such as Arctic skrei cod and reindeer meat.
Incorporating the heritage and culture of the Sami – the indigenous people of northern Scandinavia – was key to the culture bid.
When the winter darkness morphs into summer, festivals of music, dance, sculpture, opera and theatre will bloom in the midnight sun.
Bodo’s chance to dazzle in 2024 comes alongside similarly undersold Tartu in Estonia and the spa town of Bad Ischl in Austria. Having ticked off most of Europe’s more obvious choices, the EU is giving this lesser-known trio their moment in the sun (midnight or otherwise).
Bodo’s dazzlement is heightened hugely by the Norland region which shares the Capital of Culture mantle. I drive an hour north towards Kjerringoy, on a road through spectacular scenery that presses all the fantasy-Norwegianfjord buttons.
Kjerringoy nestles in a bay where russet-painted boathouses and turf-roofed fishermen’s shanties have been restored to collectively become a museum of the bygone age of stockfish drying and trading. It is this most traditional strand of culture that villagers have chosen to showcase for 2024. Next day, I drive east towards Norland National Park, near to the Swedish border. Bodo may have been a startling choice as 2024 Capital of Culture, but it has long been the capital of an utterly captivating region.
◼️ Discover the World (discover-the-world.com) offers a three-night stay in Bodo from €650pp including flights via Oslo, B&B at the four-star Quality Hotel Ramsalt and car-hire.