The annual Hove music festival in the southern coastal city of Arendal has been one of the summer’s most popular, but it failed to make enough money. Festival leader Terje Stalleland confirmed it won’t be mounted again next year unless other interested parties come forward with a takeover offer.
Stalleland confirmed a report in local newspaper Agderposten on Thursday that the festival would be shut down after eight years of operation. It started up in 2007 after another popular summer festival shut down in nearby Kristiansand.
Hove, held on the island of Tromøy in Arendal, attracted music lovers from around the country and featured many international acts, but it posted a loss of NOK 3.5 million last year that wiped out its capital. Ticket sales also fell by around 20 percent this past summer as competition from myriad other music festivals around Norway heated up. Musicians have also become far more expensive to book.
“This is terribly sad,” Gry Bråtøymyr of a local concert association (Norske Konsertarrangører) told state broadcaster NRK. “Hove has been a big and wonderful international festival in Sørlandet. It means the region will lose a large and important concert organizer.”
newsinenglish.no staff
