Culture

I n f o r m a l C u l t u r a l P r o g r a m m e
The idea behind the Informal
Cultural Programme was to create
an international celebration and
festival based on Norwegian
traditions and distinctiveness with
both amateur and professional
participants.
Due to the large number of visitors in the Olympic Region
during the events, LOOC prioritized organizing an
entertainment programme with a large scope of activities.
In addition to involving professional entertainers, LOOC
challenged the population to participate. An important goal
was to try to preserve an element of spontaneity, in order to
provide the most credible impression of Norway and the
Norwegian people.
The Informal Cultural Programme’s primary purpose at the
sports venues was to “warm-up” the spectators. Programme
participants started their activities already before the
spectators entered the arena.
Some members of the press became very interested in
documenting this part of the programme, in order to find out
the reason behind the tremendous enthusiasm shown by the
spectators.
Sport and entertainment were combined to provide a total
experience where the arenas’ facilities such as scoreboards,
large screens and PA systems were used.
The goal of the Informal Cultural Programme was to take
inspiration from Norwegian tradition and history. Among the
elements used were the construction of a Viking camp. The
camp provided a description of this period in our history by
showing clothing, athletic activities, food and drinking
traditions.
Norway bases much of its cultural engagement on
organised activities. The Informal Cultural Programme
activated 8 500 persons from cultural institutions. In all, these
persons passed arena gates a total of 20 000 times during the
16 Olympic days.
Because the Games had such a long duration and since all
the sports arenas needed entertainment, it was important to