Scan Magazine | Mini Theme | Made in Norway
With a big focus on colour, Stoppested Verden transforms the festival grounds into a vibrant universe. Photo: Ida Christine Standerholen.
A vibrant cultural melting pot in Hamar Once a year, a local park in the eastern part of Norway, more specifically Hamar, turns into a huge, colourful and cultural melting pot for people of all backgrounds – a place where individuals come together to meet and connect on a human level, regardless of their race, gender and upbringing. By Line Elise Svanevik
Stoppested Verden (‘Next stop: the World’) is a free international children’s festival primarily aimed at kids and youngsters, hosted yearly during the first weekend of June. Since its inception in 2008, it has become a place for everyone and seeks to inspire, stimulate and build bonds of knowledge and understanding between its visitors. Unlike many festivals aimed at children, there is no consumerist focus that pressures the visitors into buying things. The 52 | Issue 100 | May 2017
only thing sold at the festival is food – and this is sourced from all over the world, making it part of the experience. “You won’t find a bouncy castle at our festival,” says Mocci Ryen, initiator and festival director of Stoppested Verden. “Through the arts, we want our visitors to interact with and experience a multitude of cultural traditions. Whether it is playing musical instruments like the harmonium from India, learning to dance Argentinian tango, or experiencing El Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead), we want to build ac-
ceptance for the multicultural diversity that shapes our world today.” The festival’s main focus is antiracism, and Ryen is keen to explain that the work of the festival is not limited to the two days in June. “This is a continuous project that spans the whole year. We work closely alongside people who have just arrived in Norway, as either asylum seekers or refugees, and we want to engage them in the local community,” Ryen explains. “Through collaborations with asylum centres, embassies, cultural societies and NGOs as well as educational institutions and nurseries, we are able to involve people of all nationalities and backgrounds in a common goal: to build an arena of social understanding and ac-