Bergen Ølfestival: Norwegian Beer by the Fjords

Bergen was a Hanseatic trading post for four centuries, and the wooden warehouses of Bryggen that still line its harbour are a UNESCO World Heritage site. Beer arrived with that trade, and the city has kept a taste for it. The Bergen Ølfestival takes place on 21 and 22 August 2026, gathering Norwegian breweries in a city that is both the gateway to the western fjords and the wettest in Europe, which gives an indoor festival a certain practical logic. Western Norway has become one of the more interesting brewing regions in Scandinavia, in part because of the survival of kornøl, the farmhouse ale tradition using kveik yeast that has since travelled around the world. Bergen is a natural base for the Hardangerfjord and the Flåm railway, and August still holds enough daylight for both. More information: https://ol-akademiet.no/olfestivaler-norge-festivaloversikt-2026/