The semester at UiA has just begun but summer fun is not over yet! In mid-August, Odderøya was lost in the atmosphere of techno and house music… and so were we as we emerged into the world of electronic music at the Solbrent festival. It is an annual open-air event that has been held by a local collective Bass Rave since 2023; it is surrounded by the beautiful nature of Kristiansand. Before we get into this review, it should be mentioned that we have minimal experience with techno music, so this is an outsiders’ view of the culture. This year, the festival took place between the 21st and 22nd of August (technically, it finished on the 23rd at 2:00AM), and each day had something new to offer with an estimated 30 artists performing both music and visuals.
Let’s talk about money! Since many of our readers are students, you might be wondering if your bank account could handle a festival like this. To be fair, the tickets were kind of pricey; a two-day ticket cost 490 NOK with a student discount and 990 NOK without. We should, however, note that Bass Rave is a local collective here in Kristiansand, is a local collective here in Kristiansand, so ticket prices reflect local production costs, and compared to standard concert tickets, it remains fairly reasonable for two full days of music, so it is up to you to decide whether such a price is worth it to you. The turnout was still quite surprising; we had expected much more to show up, especially since one of us had been to similar festivals before, where the crowds could get so packed that there was barely any room to stand without constantly bumping into someone. This time, though, there was enough space to move around, and the atmosphere felt much more relaxed than we had anticipated.
While we missed the daytime activities and only attended in the evening, the musicians performing on the second night were easily the highlight. Our personal favourite was the DJ duo Might Be Twins who offered a great dose of hard techno to satisfy our ears. The music was engaging and created a lively energy that had us dancing our hearts out—to be honest, it was probably the most dancing we have done since arriving in Norway! It was also quite moving to see the wide spectrum of reactions music evokes in people. Across the crowd, you could spot everything from Hakken, Jumpstyle, and shuffling to people simply swaying side-to-side with their eyes closed.
The festival featured two main stages (areas). The main stage was larger and focused on harder techno sounds. Meanwhile, the smaller stage (Odden) offered a more chill vibe – especially on night two – where the crowd was occasionally showered in soap bubbles that left glowing fluorescent paint on clothes and skin. Odden also hosted a fire performer right in front of the crowd, which added a great visual element to our first night. On night two, we spent most of our time by the main stage taking in the heavier beats.
The Norwegian way of partying is still pretty new to us, and quite different from what we are used to back home. But out of everything we’ve experienced so far, Solbrent has easily been our favourite. Beyond our own group of friends, we met plenty of welcoming individuals in creative costumes and rave attire, from someone dressed as a giant butterfly to festivalgoers with elaborate face makeup. We even had a great conversation with a juggler who showed off his skills and taught our friend a few tricks.
We asked our friends to describe their Solbrent experience in one sentence:
Mariana: “I think it was a really good atmosphere, and it was super special being around nature with good music and friends :)”
Martina: “Listening to techno in Norwegian nature was such a cool experience!”
Pernille:” It was super fun to dance and see all the cool lights, and it was also super loud.”
Hugo: “Nice company where everyone took care of each other; I could learn some juggling tricks, which was my favourite part.”
Good energy, great music, cool people, and plenty of dancing made this one of the best parties we’ve attended in Norway. For Katrina, this was a first-time introduction to an electronic music festival; for Aleksandra, who has attended electronic events before, it stood out as one of the most relaxed and “calm” raves.
Overall, we are glad to have had the chance to cover Solbrent and experience Kristiansand’s techno scene firsthand. It was a great experience to be a part of a community of likeminded music enthusiasts and feel the electricity run through our bodies. It has definitely inspired us to explore more of the scene in the future and dive into the world of transcending sounds!
ALEKSANDRA’S RATING: 7/10
KATRINA’S RATING: 8/10
