[2] The Bergen International festival is the largest festival in the Nordic countries in its genre and has a large number of activities in music, dance, literature, visual arts, folklore, etc.

The festival is held over fourteen days from the end of May to the start of June and is located in numerous places like the Grieg Hall, Haakon's Hall, Troldhaugen, Lysøen, Siljustøl as well as streets and town squares of Bergen.

In the same time span the International Jazz Festival, Nattjazz, takes place in Bergen.

[4] The model was the Salzburg Festival, and the initiative came partly from opera singer Fanny Elstad.

[5] Christen Gran Bøgh, who died in 1955, also played a major role in the festival's first edition.