Peer Gynt Festival

Ibsen based Peer Gynt partly on folk tales collected in Gudbrandsdalen, and a local man, Per Gynt of Nord-Fron, is claimed as an inspiration, which is why the play has been staged here since 1989 on an open-air stage at Gala lake, about a thousand metres up in the mountains. Performances take place over several evenings in early August, with the lake, the hills and the changing light doing the work that scenery would otherwise; audiences sit on a hillside, and the production is in Norwegian. The wider festival programme runs for about ten days with concerts, exhibitions, hikes on the Peer Gynt trail and a range of events across the valley, and the Peer Gynt road, a toll route over the mountains, links the sites.

What you actually see

• The lakeside stage - Peer Gynt performed outdoors at Gala at a thousand metres.
• The mountain setting - the landscape the play draws on, used as scenery.
• The festival programme - concerts, walks and exhibitions across ten days.
• The Peer Gynt road - a mountain toll route linking the festival sites.

When to go

Early August, the fixed festival period; performance dates are announced in spring and tickets sell out. Mountain evenings are cold even in August, and performances go ahead in rain.

Honest expectations

The play is performed in Norwegian, which limits it for visitors without the language, though the setting carries a lot. Seating is on a hillside outdoors with no shelter, and warm clothing is essential. Accommodation in the valley books out.

Nearby

Vinstra and the Gudbrandsdalen valley lie below; Rondane and the Helvete potholes are close.