Arctic Sounds director: It has become expensive and troublesome to organize a festival outside of Nuuk

- For the sake of the long-term sustainability of the festival, we will probably have to scale down and make the festival smaller from next year.

This is the message from the director and founder of the music festival Arctic Sounds Festival, Jacob Froberg.

On April 2, the festival officially begins and welcomes festivalgoers to five days of music and cultural celebration in the country's second largest city.

Although the organizers behind the festival are happy, running a festival on the coast is not free from worries. Since the new international airport opened in Nuuk, the challenge has only grown, says Jacob Froberg.

- After the international airport moved from Kangerlussuaq to Nuuk, our flight costs have increased by 40 percent, he says.

When Sermitsiaq spoke to the festival director a few weeks before the festival, Jacob Froberg guessed that this year they have spent around 800,000 kroner in total on flight tickets.

A significantly higher amount than they were supposed to spend in 2024 – before the new airport.

- On top of that, there are also a lot of artists and other guests who have bought their own travel, adds Jacob Froberg.

In addition, it is also very often necessary for the festival's artists and network guests to stay overnight in Nuuk, which also costs money, he points out.

- We agree that many things have become easier and cheaper down in Nuuk. That's great for Nuuk, but it's clearly the rest of us who pay the price for it.

The price increase caught festival organizers by surprise

It was before last year's festival that Jacob Froberg and his co-organizers realized that the cost of air travel had skyrocketed.

- When we planned the festival in the fall of 2024, we didn't know that there would be all these increases, says Jacob Froberg.

So when the tickets had to be purchased for the artists they had already booked, they got an unpleasant surprise that contributed to the festival ending with a deficit of around 200,000 kroner, the festival director says.

- We were privileged before, because of Sisimiut's location in relation to Kangerlussuaq Airport. But it has surprised us how much more expensive, and how much more difficult, it has become to travel.

In addition, several guests and artists were also stranded after the festival last year; twenty people in Kangerlussuaq and 50 in Sisimiut, according to the festival organizers.

Some were stranded for up to a week

- And that was because of the weather in Nuuk, says Jacob Froberg.

Are you worried about the future of your festival?

- We have been lucky to get some pretty good grants and funding this year. But we cannot increase the total travel budget for the festival by 40 percent in the long run, replies Jacob Froberg and continues:

So either we have to scale down, or we have to find some way to get some permanent cooperation agreements that can reduce travel costs.

Ilulissat gives hope

The director is currently investigating various options that can remedy the situation and help save the festival. One advantage is that you can fly directly from Iqaluit and Reykjavik to Sisimiut, he says.

Arctic Sounds also has a collaboration with Katuaq in Nuuk, which makes it possible to arrange some extra concerts in the capital for artists traveling via Nuuk. This can also help reduce the total travel costs.

But the real hope for Jacob Froberg and his colleagues is the new international airport in Ilulissat, which is scheduled to open in the fall.

With an extra gate in and out of the country, it will hopefully allow for more flexibility in travel planning.

- It may be a bit of a puzzle to get everything to work with flights, says Jacob Froberg.

Until that door opens, Arctic Sounds will have to continue to bite the bullet – and expensive – apple.

- I really hope that it will help when Ilulissat Airport opens. But you never know, says the festival director.