Speeches

Leader of the Norwegian Youth Association (Noregs Ungdomslag): Torbjørn Bergwitz Lauen (3 min)

Good Nordic friends!

It is a real pleasure to wish you all welcome to Norway. And to Arendal.

NORDLEK is a very unique meeting place.

Where cultures meet.

Where generations meet.

Where new, and old, friends meet.

There are few, or no, place like NORDLEK.

It's only here where a seal clad

Only here can a Greenlander dressed in sealskin dance a Finnish minuet with the Danish grandmother of his Swedish girlfriend, while a Norwegian folk band plays music from Åland.

Only here you'll meet the WHOLE nordic folk culture at the same dance floor.

As the leader of Noregs Ungdomslag, I am proud of the fantastic work our organizers have done to make this happen.

With this beautiful city as the backdrop, they have managed to create a program filled with fun, joy, camaraderie, and great interactions between people.

And with safe and alcohol-free venues, NORDLEK is a meeting place for everyone.

From the youngest to the oldest.

From those who have attended 20 NORDLEK festivals, to those who are here for the first time.

For those who have danced all their lives, and for those who want to try the dance floor for the first time. Maybe already tonight?

I look forward to everything that will happen in the week ahead. This is going to be fun!

Festival Director NORDLEK 2024: Edvard Lauen (3 min)

Dear County Mayor of Agder, dear Deputy Mayor of Arendal, dear Nordleikcarar and dear all visitors in and coming to Arendal!

My first meeting with Nordleik was in Trondheim in 1976. It was an experience that I am not fond of, and which has made me travel to many Nordleikfestivalar later. In Trondheim, there was Nordic folk music and dance around the clock for five days. There I met for the first gong Finnish menuettar, Danish quadriljar, Swedish polskas, Faroese and Icelandic songdance and a lot of anna. For those of the divers who are on the first Nordleik theme this week, I hope they get the same nice experience that I had 48 years ago!

Nordleik is one of the finest Nordic organisations we have for Nordic folk cooperation. It is over a hundred years since the first Nordic folk dance theme in Stockholm. And this cooperation has survived both wars and other difficult times. And in today's Europe, with conflict and war in our neighbourhood, it is worth taking with us the good cultural and interpersonal cooperation that we have in the Nordic countries. Despite the fact that the Nordic countries have a European record in wars for the last thousand years, we have not had peace and close, peaceful cooperation between us for over two hundred years. This is worth taking into account in today's Europe. It is possible to find a lasting peace for nations that have bitter enemies and fight wars among themselves.

During this festival, there will be over 200 volunteers in turn, and we will have 150 different events. We have received important financial support from Arendal Fossekompani and Spareban1. However, this Nordleik topic could not have been carried out without good cooperation with Arendal Municipality and Agder County Municipality. A big thank you to them. And for that I am grateful that they will be here tonight at this opening. I give the floor first to County Mayor Arne Thomassen in Agder County Municipality, and secondly to Deputy Mayor Inger Brokka de Ruiter. After these two, Urban Lind joined to officially open the festival.

County Mayor of Agder: Arne Thomassen (3 min)

It is very big for me as County Mayor of Agder to be able to open this wonderful array of participants from the Nordic countries.

We are also particularly proud that Agder has been chosen and not least because we have received our Unesco intangible cultural heritage with the seatesdal culture. Stevart, dance and folk music.

This is very big for us 320,000 egder and we feel the pride all over the county but perhaps most of all in Setesdal where the young people now receive training in kindergarten and school.

I want to say a little about why Nordlek is so important:

-Forbund Nordlek is a Nordic cooperation body that works to promote traditional Nordic folk culture.

-The association has its roots in the major Nordic folk dance events that have been held since 1920.

Nordic cohesion and brotherhood are perhaps more important than ever when we see the unrest around us.

-Linguistic community, historical community, common cultural basis and understanding are very important.

-Many people take their holidays to Nordlek and we and other places where this is held show off great cultural experiences and amazing places with incredibly nice nature, like here in Agder!

-Nordlek consists of cultural organizations in 5 Scandinavian countries and 3 autonomous regions in the Nordic region.

-There are participants from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Greenland, Faroe Islands, Åland and Sapni (Sami area)

-Nordlek's goal is to unite forces and promote the traditional folk culture in the Nordic countries in dance, music, folk costumes and the like.

-The Nordlek festivals are a meeting place to make this culture visible to a large audience, and to transmit folk traditions to new generations.

-Nordlek in Arendal is the largest folk dance festival in the Nordic region in 2024.

-Nordlek is carried out every three years, and goes on tour to the different countries. It has been 12 years since Nordlek was last in Norway. (Steinkjer in 2012).

To this year's Nordlek where there is an incredible amount going on:

There are 170 events planned

The goal is to fill Arendal with music and dance all week long. Here all venues will be used such as Sam Eyde's Place, Canal Square, Pollen Square. House of Culture. The Chamber of Culture and several local cafes or restaurants.

In summary:

Ahead of the festival there has been a Nordic summer camp for young people. The great thing here is that many of the events are aimed precisely at children and young people.

I also think it's nice that Nordlek is supposed to be a safe festival for everyone and no alcohol is served at the festival.

Would like to commend the great volunteer efforts in connection with the festival. Volunteers are taking part, and again a tremendous spirit of competence is shown in our Nordic countries. To get this event done there are 200 200 volunteers! Applause for these!

Thanks to Nordlek and Noregs Ungdomslag and Aust-Agder youth teams for bringing the festival to Agder and Arendal.

Thank you very much to all of you here at Agder who have made this possible and thank you to Arendal for welcoming us so much.

Then I have to remind all spectators and participants that it will all end with a great Nordic folk dance pattern and party presentation. Just to rejoice.

Agder County Council is pleased to be able to have festivals like this in our region.

I would like to hand out some flowers, yes many could have been handed out but these three I would like to highlight now:

Edvard Lauen is the festival director for Nordlek in 2024.

Torgeir Fiane was a leader in Aust-Agder youth team that applied to bring the festival to Agder. He is also a chairman on the committee on rigging and backs. Actually a jazz musician.

Nina Byttingsmyr is programme manager, and is responsible for all programme posts at the festival, and holds the most important position at a festival.

Nina is a folk musician and plays the fiddle herself.

Welcome to Agder and thank you very much for taking care of this unique cultural heritage in our Nordic countries!

Deputy Mayor of Arendal: Inger Brokka de Ruiter (3 min)

It is a great honor to warmly welcome Nordlek, guests and all participants to Arendal! It is great that this Nordic folk music and folk dance festival is held here in the festival town of Arendal.

Arendal is history, and Arendal wreaking history.

Through the combination of strong cultural history and strong cultural experiences, with a focus on cooperation and sustainability, Arendal has created its history.

In Arendal we have a vibrant and active cultural life, both in music, performing arts, art and literature. The municipality's cultural institutions, professional cultural actors and a myriad of associations and committed volunteerism contribute to activity and event for residents and visitors. That's why I think it's extra great to host Nordlek2024.

Like Arendal, Nordlek also has its history - with roots all the way back to 1920. Like the music, both the dance and the craft are inspiration for new expressions. And that's the nicest thing we do with our history and culture -- keep it alive, further develop it, and let new generations take part in it and gain ownership of it to carry it forward.

I think it's great that you include children in this festival. They are the ones who will carry the artistic and cultural heritage forward after us.

The fact that you are going to have a party train that ends up in a traditional Setesdal wedding at Kanalplass is extra amazing to me, as my grandparents were from Setesdal and married with setesdalsbunader and with the traditions such a wedding has.

It will be nice to see and hear Arendal city filled with party costumes and Nordic music and dance. We are an international city and we cheer for diversity and the colourful community. It makes us rich.

For we live in a troubled time of war in Europe. Then it is more important than ever that we come together - across borders, cultures and languages to get to know each other better, talk together and share experiences - together. Generosity, tolerance, familiarity with each other and shared experiences bind us together and create respect and tolerance. It is more important than ever to get to know each other, to safeguard traditions, cohesion and development.

These days you will get to know Arendal better. Been dear library, city center, restaurants, Old Town Hall, House of Culture, Chamber of Culture and the archipelago. I hope it gives you more flavor and that you will come back. I wish you good, rich and memorable days.

Because the most important thing I know in life is that we should not only have something to live on, but also something to live for. And Nordlek contributes to this to a great extent.

Chairman of Nordlek: Urban Lind (3 min)

Welcome to NORDLEK 2024! It is with great pleasure that I look forward to the exciting atmosphere we now have in front of us.
 
The tradition of bringing together Nordic folk dance and folk music practitioners in Nordic voices is over 100 years old. The first Nordic General Meeting was held in 1920. This was just after a troubled time when we had just lived through the First World War. A few years later it was forced to break with the Nordic voices during the Second World War. Unfortunately, we now see that the world situation is once again more troubled than it has been for a very long time, with wars in Ukraine and Gaza among others.
 
In troubled times like these, it is important that we can continue to rally around our old folk dance and folk music traditions and ensure that the distinctive Nordic folk culture can continue to be preserved and developed.
 
A Nordlek meeting offers a unique combination of meetings with a local tradition, such as here the local traditions of the Norwegian Sörlandet, and meetings with national Nordic traditions across national borders. This tally will also offer a variety of such meetings. There is every opportunity to experience and learn a lot over the next few days.
 
I have the privilege of being the chairman of the Nordlek organization.
 
This organization aims to increase cooperation between the various Nordic countries, so that together we can increase interest and awareness of folk dance, folk music and other folk culture within the Nordic countries and within our respective countries.
 
The Nordic countries have many similarities with each other. Societies are similar, our folk cultural traditions are similar, and the position of folk culture in our countries is similar.
 
I therefore believe that cooperation across national borders, such as in the framework of Nordlek, can help us find new ways together to strengthen the position of folk culture within our respective countries.
 
The Nordlek organization currently has a lot of activity, with various meetings, conferences and the like.
 
Major events ahead that I especially want to mention is that next year we will have a smaller meeting in Iceland — ISLEK 2025.
 
The year after that, it will be BARNLEK 2026, a meeting for children and young people. This meeting will be held in Raseborg in southern Finland.
 
And last but not least, in three years' time it will be time for a Nordlek meeting again, and this time in Denmark.
 
But now let's first enjoy that we are here, on a new NORDLEK, and with some wonderful intense days ahead of us. Welcome to Arendal, and welcome to NORDLEK 2024.

With this I declare NORDLEK 2024 to be opened!

BEFORE: NORDLEK 2024 Festival Director: Edvard Lauen (1 min)

Well, let's get to experience a special preparation for those of you who are here tonight. A view in and by the water here in Pollen.

In the past year, 20 young people from Norway, Finland, Denmark, Sweden and Greenland have met and learned music and dance from others. We will recognize dance traditions from North Norway and all the way here to Agder via Valdres, Hallingdal and Telemark. The music and dance have taken place under the artistic lease of Silje Liahagen, Tone Ingvaldsen, Silje Onstad Hålien and Andreas Ljones. Musician is Kristian Svensson, Emma Elliane, Guro Kfan Nesheim and Floating Sofa Quartet. The last week, the 20 young people have joined over 100 more young people who have attended summer camp here ahead of Nordlek2024.

Take a look at the performers in this year's competition!

AFTER: Festival director NORDLEK 2024: Edvard Lauen (1 min)

Thank you for showing up here at Pollen! No luck dancing up in Kulturhuset and at Sam Eydesplass. For those who do not have secured a festival pass, it is possible to buy a dance ticket at the door if you want to attend the evening dance one or more evenings. Tonight, and every night for the rest of the week, there will also be night dancing for those with festival passes at Kulturkammerert after the dance at Kulturhuset and Sam Eydesplass ends. See all information about everything that happens at NORDLEK 2024 at the three information towers around the city center or at www.NORDLEK2024.no.

Talar 1 (3 min):

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Talar 2 (3 min):

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Talar 3 (3 min):

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