Can't stop the rock ... midnight at the Bukta rock festival. Photograph: Neil Perry
Neil Perry goes to a Norwegian rock festival where Mother Nature provides the lighting effects.
If you were looking for the perfect blend of art and nature, then you couldn't do much better than the Bukta rock festival in Tromsø, northern Norway.
Now in its third year, Bukta makes a good claim to be the most thrilling and beautiful festival site going; behind the stage nothing but the Arctic Ocean and snow-capped mountains, and surrounding the audience nothing but trees and beach. Oh, and the sun never sets.
Three hundred kilometres into the Arctic Circle, between November 21 and January 21 Tromsø exists in almost total darkness, with just a hint of sun in the middle of the day. Between May 21 and July 21, however, the situation is reversed. The sun dips towards the horizon at midnight, before, happily, deciding to rise again.
Tromsø is a small, pretty place with the feel of a frontier town about it. It has a university with 10,000 students and, perhaps appropriately with that in mind, the world's most northern brewery. There are 13 flights a day from Oslo, worth it alone for the view of the mountains, the fjord and some of the hundreds of local islands as you come in to land. This part of the world really is stunning.
For a Bukta first-timer, standing in a woodland park with a cold beer while watching bands play in broad daylight, at midnight, with sea birds wheeling over the stage and ships passing behind, is a surreal experience. Sadly this year the sun was hidden behind clouds, but it was still as bright as an overcast day. The temperature can vary hugely; at the 2004 festival you could get by in a T-shirt and shorts, whereas this year it was wise to have a sweater to hand.
Held on the last weekend of the midnight sun, the festival takes place in Telegrafbukta, a camping and picnic spot 30 minutes from the centre of Tromsø. Over Friday and Saturday, Bukta features an eclectic international line up. This year the UK was represented by, from the opposite ends of the spectrum, Art Brut and Motorhead (and during the latter's storming performance the mayor of Tromsø was seen down the front, punching the air). Also enjoying the scenery were Danes Baby Woodrose and Mew, American Brant Bjork, Canadian Danko Jones, plus a clutch of the biggest Norwegian pop and rock acts, such as the enthralling Kaizers Orchestra and longstanding heroes DumDum Boys. Early on Saturday afternoon there is a no-alcohol spot with a few bands playing for free.
If you haven't experienced the midnight sun before, it is a bizarre experience - and ideal for a festival. Being used to outdoor gigs in the UK, it is hard to get used to the fact that, as the bigger headlining acts take the stage, night is never going to come. It feels very, very wrong - enjoyably so. With your bodyclock totally confused, you really do feel like you can keep going forever.
After the bands have finished, around 12.30am, convoys of buses ferry the (by this time) quite merry festival goers back to the city centre, where Tromsø's clubs and bars await them. With the pub curtains drawn, a sense of normality descends, and you can almost forget where you are. But when you decide to head for bed at 3am, however, you step outside into a bustling high street full of people, some window shopping, some propping each other up and singing, all in broad daylight, like a slightly unhinged Sunday afternoon.
If you plan to be in Norway next summer, make time to fit the Bukta festival into your schedule. To be honest, it doesn't really matter which bands are playing; the point of going to Bukta is just to be there and enjoy the fantastic atmosphere, because there really isn't another live music event like it in the world.
