BEYOND THE GATES EXPERIENCE
Black metal landmarks, spectacular nature, local culture, guided tours, get ready to explore Bergen with Beyond the Gates Experience.
For the 3rd time we invite all our faithfuls to take part in all the festival-side events dubbed Beyond the Gates Experience. Since the inception of the Beyond the Gates festival, fans have been coming to Bergen to see performances of their favorite Norwegian artists in their home environment. As most of our visitors know, nature and local culture has always been a poignant source of inspiration for the bands emerging from the Bergen scene.
Yet again Beyond the Gates will give all the traveling fans the opportunity to get an unique insight into all aspects of the Norwegian Metal scene and the local culture in general. In that regard we’re putting together a series of events before and during the festival so that all of you can discover what inspired – and still does - the Norwegian metal scene.
Join us for guided tours in old historical parts of Bergen town or visit the art gallery to a certain well known singer at Bryggen in Bergen that will hold an exhibition this year you won't miss! This year we will also introduce a guided tour to the famous Fantoft Stave Church.
Moving on… There will be listening parties, panels, in-depth live interviews and lots of events and activities that hopefully will give you a Beyond the Gates Experience that will last for a lifetime. Keep your eyes on these pages and we will post more news and tours as we go.
GUIDED TOURS:
Black Metal Landmarks with Tore Bratseth
Metal legend and storyteller bar none, Tore Bratseth (Old Funeral, The Batallion, Bömbers) will take you on a trip to the outskirts of Bergen to show our visitors a series of key locations in the Norwegian black metal lore. The trip includes stops at the Lysekloster ruins, where many legendary photo and video shoots has taken place. You will also be able to see the bunker where Euronymous was photographed for the “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas” promo cycle. Another stop on the trek is the location of the original Os Rock club where Mayhem rehearsed before the recording “DMDS” in Grieghallen, and also regular rehearsal place for Old Funeral and Amputation.
This trip will go by bus from outside of Grieghallen (Nygårdsgaten).
Date: Wednesday Jul 31 11:00 - on sale now / Thurs Aug 01 11:00 / Friday Aug 02 11:00 / Saturday Aug 03 11:00
Meet-up: Grieghallen 10:45
Duration: Approx 3 hours
Tickets: Buy here
Beyond the Black Metal Classics - a guided tour of Grieghallen with Pytten
TRAVEL:
Norway in a nutshell
This legendary tour takes you through Norway’s most breathtaking UNESCO-protected fjord and mountain scenery, as well as a trip on Europe’s top scenic rail journey. You will experience the scenic Bergen Railway, the breathtaking Flåm Railway, the Aurlandsfjord, the narrow and dramatic UNESCO-protected Nærøyfjord and a bus trip through the beautiful scenery of Western Norway.
On the trip, you get to enjoy magnificent nature from the train window on some of Europe's most beautiful train rides and you get to feel the fresh fjord air of the Nærøyfjord on the deck of an electric boat. The trip gives you the best Western Norway has to offer in terms of fjords and mountains and you travel through the landscape in an easy and sustainable way. The journey has several highlights, such as the Flam Railway- one of the world's most beautiful train journeys, a fjord cruise on Nærøyfjorden and Aurlandsfjorden and the Nærøydalen valley, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Fjordcruise, Bergen - Mostraumen
Photo: Robin Strand, Rødne Fjord Cruise
Experience fjords and mountains on a 3-3,5 hour cruise to Osterfjord and the picturesque Mostraumen where boats are just able to pass through!
Narrow fjords, steep mountainsides and mighty waterfalls – join the tour from Bergen in a fantastic fjord landscape! We sail up the 27-kilometer long Osterfjord towards Modalen, the country’s second smallest municipality with only around 380 inhabitants. Along the way, we safely navigate through strong currents in the shallow and narrow Mostraumen straits. We bring the bow so close to a towering waterfall that you may even feel the refreshing spray on your face!
Culinary safari of the scenic fjord-coast
Photo: broadstone
This tour starts at Zachariasbryggen at the Fish Market in Bergen city centre, where you board the catamaran which takes you out on a great day cruise in the scenic archipelago along the fjord coast.
The modern boats have sun decks and a comfortable lounge. Along the way, you’ll learn about places and stories connected to the places we visit or pass by. Vikings, war history, and more modern times – and some information about the two world champions we’ll visit.
We sail out from the city fjord, and you’ll get a view of beautiful Bergen from the seaside. The route takes you from urban areas past by Sotra towards Os, located on the south side of the headland of the Bergen peninsula.
ART/MUSEUM:
KODE Art Museums and Composer Home
KODE Art Museums and Composer Homes is one of the largest museums for art, craft, design and music in the Nordic countries.
KODE has a unique combination of art museums and composers’ homes, of contemporary art, historical objects, concerts and parklands. The museums stewards almost 50,000 objects ranging from paintings, works on paper, sculptures, installations, videos, musical instruments, furniture and works of fine craft and design. These objects can be experienced in four museum buildings in Bergen city centre (KODE 1, 2, 3 and 4), and in the homes of the composers Ole Bull, Harald Sæverud and Edvard Grieg.
The Leprosy Museum – St. Jørgen Hospital
Science and human dignity, a touching history about a disease which has had severe consequences for many people.
St. Jørgen’s hospital is a unique cultural monument. You will be able to learn more about the disease leprosy and its spread in Norway, and about how a large-scale investment in research and health work put Bergen on the world map. Between 1850 and 1900 Bergen had three hospitals for leprosy patients and the largest concentration of patients in Europe. It’s two last patients died in 1946 and the hospital closed.
The city’s oldest leprosy hospital, St. Jørgen’s Hospital, is now not only a monument to thousands of personal tragedies, it is also an important arena for the dissemination of Norwegian work and research on leprosy.
Address: Kong Oscarsgate 59
Galleri Fjalar
Located at the infamous Bryggen, Galleri Fjalar is placed nicely in one of the old Hanseatic heritage buildings. These walls tell stories and create a great ambience for the art singer and artist, Kristian “Gaahl” Espedal exhibits. The gallery has during its relatively short existence become a much revered attraction for music fans and art connoisseurs from all over the globe. During the Beyond the Gates festival there will be several events staged within this intimate and atmospheric setting.
Address: Bryggen 37, 2nd floor