This Music Festival On A Tiny, Remote Island Looks Totally Amazing

CHRISTIAN STORM

JUL. 25, 2014

Bjarni Enghamar/G! Festival

This past week marked the 12th annual G! Festival, and people from all over the world came to see great musical performances.

But for nearly all of them, it wasn’t a simple drive or car trip. The G! Festival was held on one of the tiny, remote Faroe Islands, an isolated part of Denmark.

The Islands are located approximately halfway between Norway and Iceland. It takes 3.5 hours to fly there from Oslo, and 13 to 14 hours by ferry from Denmark. 

google maps

Given the remoteness of the festival, which took place on the southwest Faroese island of Eysturoy, you might think attendance would have been sparse.

Barbara Vang

But festival promoters say they sell around 6,000 tickets a year, which is 15 times the population of Syðrugøta, the tiny town where the festival is located.

According to Wikipedia, it is believed that a fifth of the population of the Faroe Islands attended the festival in 2005.

Edith Johannesen/G! Festival

The Faroe Islands are absolutely beautiful, and were a stunning background for the festival. What’s even more picturesque was the location of the festival’s main stage.

Ditte Mathilda Joensen/G! Festival

The stage was directly on the beach. Concert-goers had the ocean to their left and soaring, grass-covered mountains to their right. Needless to say, it’s one of the most unique places in the world to see a show.

Many people chose to pitch a tent in a field off the beach, surrounded by gorgeous scenery. 

G! Festival

The water may have been freezing, but some people ventured in anyway. 

Barbara Vang/G! Festival

When they had too much, they could jump into the Finnish hot tubs and sauna.

Edith Johannesen/G! Festival

Concert-goers saw headlining acts like Swangah, Orka, or Sister Sledge on the beach, and checked out smaller acts on one of the three other stages, like this one, made out a converted shipping container.

G! Festival

Things don’t stop when the sun goes down. Attendees just put on a jacket and keep going. At night, electronic acts perform at one of G! Festival’s purportedly “legendary” parties.

Ditte Mathilda Joensen/G! Festival

Founded in 2002 by Faroe Island locals Sólarn Solmunde and Jón Tyril, G! Fest is actually one of two large music festivals on the Faroe Islands, which are known for being somewhat of a hotbed of creativity. The people of the town, and of the Islands as a whole, have been quite receptive to the festival, as well.

Ditte Mathilda Joensen/G! Festival