After the Salzkammergut with the banner town of Bad Ischl and Estonia’s second largest city Tartu, the Norwegian Bodø celebrated the official start of the year as European Capital of Culture on Saturday evening with dances, fireworks and music. In her speech, Queen Sonja acknowledged that the city invites everyone to create beautiful communities – at a time when encounters are more important than ever.
Around 12,000 to 15,000 people celebrated at the event in the harbor. Because of the storm “Ingunn” it was unclear for a long time whether the celebration might even take place.
Bodø, with around 54,000 inhabitants, is the first European Cultural Capital north of the Arctic Circle. The culture of the Sami, the indigenous people in the surrounding Nordland region, will receive a special focus.
