Visit in Notodden, Norway, 2013

On September 3-5, 2013, the group managing the project “Promoting artistic and cultural diversity of the countries of north-eastern Europe and Scandinavia as part of the Suwałki Blues Festival 2013” visited Notodden as part of the visit summarizing the project. The main purpose of the visit was a working meeting on the evaluation of the project and further cooperation in the field of blues (cooperation of festivals and exchange of bands). The meeting was attended by: Bożena Kamińska – director of the Suwałki Cultural Center, director of the Suwałki Blues Festival 2013, Alicja Andrulewicz – Head of the Department of Culture and Monument Protection of the Municipal Office in Suwałki, Project Coordinator of the Suwałki Blues Festival 2013, Magdalena Tumialis – Promotion Department of the Suwałki Cultural Center, translator, Bogdan Topolski – Artistic Director of Suwałki Blues Festival, Krzysztof Masłowski – Technical Coordinator of Suwałki Blues Festival, Jorn Christensen – Mayor of Notodden, Jostein Forsberg – Director of Notodden Blues Festival, Terje Malm – Head of the Culture Department in Notodden, Bjorn Frode Moen – Advisor for International Affairs.

All meeting participants highly assessed the cooperation so far in the organization of festivals, in particular this year’s one as part of the implemented project co-financed by the “Promoting cultural and artistic diversity within the European cultural heritage” program under the EEA FM 2009-2014. Conclusions were listed and elements that could be changed or improved were indicated. New possibilities regarding organization, promotion and logistics in subsequent editions of the festival were also proposed. At the end of the meeting, both sides maintained their willingness to continue such fruitful cooperation and made declarations of joint activities for the coming years. During the visit to Notodden, the delegation from Suwałki visited the construction site of the new Cultural Center. In the building, next to the music school, practice rooms, two cinemas, and the Notodden Blues Festival office, there will be a music club with a capacity of 250 people, a completely analog sound production studio, a library and a blues museum.