As legend would have it, Niccolò Paganini completed one of his legendary violin performances on a single string when the others snapped one by one. Whether it was the art of showmanship, or just a display of ridiculous talent, is a matter still open for discussion hundreds of years later.

Vetle Nærø had his own moment that would’ve made Paganini proud.

Earlier this month, the Norwegian neo-classic composer dazzled with a performance on the piano, a special guest of the 2026 Bergtatt Festival. That haunting mid-morning set at Luster’s Dale Church, built during the first half of the 13th century, was unexpectedly unplugged — through no fault of his own.

“The concert was going to be a more electronic set with my synthesizers, some gear. But they were lost at the airport,” he tells Billboard. “So I had to basically rearrange my concert and return to solo piano.”

The show must, and did, go on. The performance, and his words to the 200 guests, had some in floods of happy tears. To create “calm and connection,” he says, “is the reason why I do this.”

Thanfully, the musical equipment has since been returned to its owner.

Born in Oslo in 2000, and raised in the quiet coastal town of Ålesund, Nærø studied classical piano at a young age, learning his craft from the playbooks of Chopin and Rachmaninoff. By age nine, he had discovered the godfathers of minimalism, including Philip Glass and Arvo Part. Later, he would form a jazz trio and the electronic scene came calling.

His first album, 2018’s By Heart, was a spontaneous project recorded in a single day. Its followup, Introspection, came in 2021. A third, From Moments, dropped in 2023, and his most recent album release, All Moments Must Pass, was issued in May 2025 on Piano & Coffee Records.  

He’s currently mapping out his fifth studio album, to be released in 2027.

“It’s forming up to be a very big release, at a bigger scale than I’m the previous one,” he hints. “I get to work with some amazing people that really believe in what I’ve made.”

Norway is on top, in just about every meaningful way. Its 5.6 million population is blessed with an enviable standard of living, world-beating Winter Olympians, your new favorite soccer player, and a crop of standout recording artists, from electronic DJs and producers Kygo, Röyksopp and Alan Walker, to indie artists Girl In Red, Aurora, Kings of Convenience, and the legendary new wave act a-ha.

With Bergtatt Festival, presented in Luster, Western Norway, on an epic fjord, the Nordic country also boasts one of Europe’s most specular and remote festivals, with a killer, curated lineup.

Billboard’s Lars Brandle made the journey for the 2026 edition, hosted on the first weekend of July, and discovered an event like no other, a musical wonderland powered by a small army of volunteers, all of it playing out in a spot that could be lifted right out the mind of Tolkien.

A holiday in paradise

The Norwegian summer isn’t like currency. You can’t bank it. In a place like Luster, a municipality and village in Vestland county on the inner, eastern end of the Sognefjorden, Europe’s longest fjord, the four seasons can make their appearance before breakfast. No bother. After those long, cold winters, summer in this part of the world is a reward. It’s earned, a coming out party where everyone is invited.

Presented several days after the summer solstice, Bergtatt Festival 2026 invites all those elements. Snowcapped mountains nearby, and days so long a mind can be tricked into considering dinner plans well past midnight. This party, a camping fest, welcomes about 1,500 guests, including 1,000 ticket-buyers, the rest comprised of friends, extended family and VIPs.

It’s a swift sellout.

Founded in 2018, and opening its gates for the first time in 2019, Bergtatt is led by six school friends from Oslo: Oskar Skulberg (booking manager), Anders Mageli (community leader), Nicolai Frantzen (creative leader), Johan Stang (operational leader), Ole Kristian Knudsen (technical leader) and Aksel Mjøen (commercial leader). The seed was planted on a trip to visit the Mageli cabin, the lads sampling some wine.

Today, the event boasts some 30 core, unpaid volunteers. That number grows to about 150 for showtime. And like the co-founders, each helper has their own, specific role to play. Most of that initial launch crew, numbering 10 to 20, remain part of the team.

Each of the founders has a “normal job, which I think gives a certain perspective,” remarks Stang. Bergtatt “is our hobby.”

Bergtatt is different. “Our booking budget is proportionately way too high compared to what’s normal,” Skulberg reckons, “because we do it for fun.” This year, 30 acts and 30 events are booked.

As the fest has matured, it has remained right-sized. Like every other live event on earth, the pandemic did its damage. Two editions were wiped out, and co-founder Mathias Apeland exited to pursue other ventures. The festival survived and thrived, where so many others have imploded under the weight of costs and changing ticket-buying behaviors. It’s a feast for the eyes and ears, a music holiday with a roadtrip.

An early vision was to present the fest on the peak of the Berge mountain, where the family of co-founder Mageli has a property. That logistical nightmare was tamed, sanity prevailed, and the show is now presented at ground level.

The mountain plays its part. The fest gets underway only after a mass hike to the summit, followed by the “Berge Uphill Race,” contested by folks considerably fitter than the rest of us. And then, a performance, this time featuring a stripped-back set by Konradsen. Mother nature flexing in the background. “The most important thing is community and music,” Mageli remarks at the mic. On the walk down, a dance party pumps away in the forest, and presents an opportunity for hundreds to stretch the legs.

Music festivals need an angle. Money is tight, time is money. The United States’ Burning Man is a rite of passage, and owns its place on the calendar. Australia’s Big Red Bash is held in the desert. Others set up on islands, alps, with a-list lineups. 

With Bergtatt Festival, the journey is intrinsic to the experience.

Roadtrip

From Oslo, the capital, 220 miles to the south, the journey cuts through ranges and includes at least one section by ferry. It’s grand scenery, where mountainous woodland meets glacier water, a wilderness that belongs in Middle Earth.

From Bergen, the country’s second city, a drive passes through the Lærdal Tunnel, at 15.2 miles the longest of its kind on earth. Add to that water paths, and there’s a sense of adventure before the action starts. You know it’s something special when the party-goers take snaps, which they do.

The trip, remarks Frantzen, “it tends to be a great filter.”

Living the dream

For the lineup of performers, which included the U.K.’s Tourist; local singer, songwriter and bandleader Fay Wildhagen; enigmatic soulman Pale Jay; Keisha, a large-lunged Swedish artist who blew open the door on her career by posting songs on TikTok; and pianist, composer and electronic artist Vetle Nærø, who performed in the Dale Church, established around 1220-1250 (a “very special event,” he later says), Bergtatt is an eye-opener.

“It’s a dream here, in such a wonderful location, and an incredible sound system,” remarks Faux Tales, the electronic music producer from Bern, Switzerland, during his day three set in the Bergheim room, a 100-year-old cow barn on any other week. “Enjoy that beautiful festival,” he remarks.

Several of the performers took multiple flights to get here. The members of Konradsen sailed. No one gets to Luster without putting in the work.

Once inside the gates, it’s fresh air. A pop-up tattoo desk offers keepsakes of the festival. Elk burgers are on the menu. To the side of the main stage is a sauna. And yes, the hardy locals swim in the chilly fjord as the bands rock out.

The festival counts a string of sponsors, but doesn’t rely on government handouts.

“It’s one of these things that I’ve always wanted to do, but has never fit the schedule,” Wildhagen tells Billboard. The beloved local artist and her band was meant to stay off the road this year to complete work on a new album. When she received the invite to perform, “I was like, ‘we have to come.’” With her day one headline performance, Wildhagen closed the chapter that is her award-winning 2024 album Let’s Keep It In The Family (via Warner Music Norway). “It’s been a dream to come here for many years.”

What the future holds

The 10-year anniversary of Bergtatt is on the horizon. Before that, there’s another event to plan for. A headliners wishlist has been drawn up. It’s a work in progress. “We set ourselves some goals for the next year,” explains Skulberg, “and then we measure it after that. It’s in our mindset to just look for improvements all the time. We try to focus on the next year, every time. But we want to continue peaking or improving,” for “a much better product and experience.”

After the tents are packed away, and the site cleared, the team reaches out to ticket-buyers for feedback. The inner circle doesn’t tune into the crowd when it comes to the content. That’s all done in-house.

“We can never compete with big festivals on headliners,” notes Skulberg. That said, the top end of town can’t compete with a holiday in paradise.

Expect the next show to be better, maybe bigger.

“We see ourselves as curators of the weekend from when they arrive until they leave,” comments Frantzen. “They’re in our hands for three, four days. And we curate their journey through our artistic vision. It’s not just a lot of concerts and bookings, but a whole program.”

For the founders, their own families are growing. An expansion to the site to accommodate more party-goers, isn’t out of the question.

“We could probably grow it a little bit more this way and that way,” Mageli admits. “I mean, we could always push it a bit more. But again, it comes down to the experience that we want to create. We’re in a very small community. And we’re also conscious about our footprints, the amount of people, and the cars.”

Frantzen has the final word. “We want people to leave here with a feeling of being part of a group, of something bigger. That’s easier when you’re not too many people. Instead of growing in size, we want to be the best boutique festival.”

Ariana Grande is suing unnamed hackers who she claims have repeatedly stolen and leaked unreleased music, photos and video footage, saying they have violated the “sacred relationship that exists between her and her fans.”

In a lawsuit submitted to Los Angeles court Monday (July 27), the pop star’s attorneys say the hackers have targeted her photographers and producers, allowing them to carry out “unlawful and egregious” thefts of her private content. They say 45 of her songs were stolen and leaked in 2023 alone.

“Neither Ms. Grande nor any other public or private figure should have to suffer such violations caused by these wrongdoers who hide in the shadows and wreak technological havoc with impunity,” the star’s lawyers write. “It is imperative to Ms. Grande to ensure on behalf of herself and others that such conduct is deterred to the fullest extent possible.”

The lawsuit does not name any actual defendants; instead, it names anonymous “John Doe” hackers. Grande is aiming to use the lawsuit to unmask them, potentially through court-ordered subpoenas to internet service providers.

“Ms. Grande initiates this action to uncover the identities of these currently unknown and unscrupulous individuals in order to hold them accountable for their invasive and reprehensible conduct,” her lawyers write.

Grande’s lawyers say she has “constantly and recently been the target of cyberattacks,” resulting in theft of her music, photos and video that are “part of her personal and professional creative process and that are not intended for public consumption.” After these thefts, the hackers have then “sold this personal data and content on the dark web for significant sums of money.”

The lawsuit claims Grande has faced “hundreds” of such leaks since 2011, including a 2019 theft of “still-in-production, unreleased masters and demos and footage,” as well as two attacks in 2024 that saw unreleased photos of the star stolen in phishing scams.

“This malicious invasion of Ms. Grande’s privacy and disruption of her career have caused her substantial and irreparable harm due to this breach of privacy,” her lawyers write. “The unauthorized misappropriation and disclosure of these materials is a violation of Ms. Grande’s identity and artistry, and the direct and sacred relationship that exists between her and her fans.”

In technical legal terms, Grande is suing the unnamed hackers for invasion of privacy, violation of California computer hacking laws, and conversion — the civil law equivalent to the crime of theft.

On Sunday (July 26), Slayyyter kicked off her WOR$T GIRL IN THE WORLD Tour with a hometown show — and special treat.

During the opening night set, the pop provocateur live debuted four unreleased songs. Within 24 hours, she announced that one of those unheard gems, “BRAND NEW CHANEL$,” will arrive on Friday (July 31), giving even more fans the first taste of what could be an extension of her iconic era.

Slayyyter revealed the news via Instagram on Monday (July 27) alongside a high-quality live snippet of herself performing the track during the show in St. Louis, Missouri. She accompanied the post with a message thanking fans for coming to show and wrote, “I love my hometown so much. I can’t wait to do it all over again tonight.”

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Concertgoers at the tour opener were the first to hear “BRAND NEW CHANEL$,” along with three other unreleased songs: “NEKROMANTIK,” “I THINK HE’S GOT A GIRL” AND “CRANK 2.” The surprise debuts immediately caused speculation to rise surrounding Slayyyter’s next album, though she has yet to announce a new LP.

“BRAND NEW CHANEL$” will be the first official release since her third studio album, WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA, which arrived in March and debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Dance Albums chart. It also scored Slayyyter her first entry on the Billboard 200, reaching No. 22.

Her WOR$T GIRL IN THE WORLD Tour extends through Nov. 5, wrapping in London at The Roundhouse. The trek includes a handful of festival appearances, including Lollapalooza Chicago, Reading and Leeds Festivals and All Things Go in Washington, D.C.