Venues - the heart of the festival experience
Dark Season Blues is known for its unique ability to create closeness between artists, audiences and locals – both musically and personally. The festival utilizes a number of small and intimate venues scattered throughout Longyearbyen, and it is precisely this that gives the festival its distinctive character. Here you can experience world-class blues in everything from a coal mine and a wooden church, to a brewery, restaurant and the town’s cultural center.
Concert experiences will never be the same – and that’s the point. At Karlsberger Pub, you’ll be up close and personal with both musicians and regulars. At Gruvelageret, you can enjoy blues by candlelight and a three-course dinner. In Svalbard Church, magical moments arise in silence and acoustics, while Huset and Kulturhuset provide space for the larger productions and audiences. The festival’s strength lies in its contrasts – and its proximity.
By using the entire town as a stage, Dark Season Blues makes Longyearbyen itself part of the experience. The audience wanders between the venues in the polar darkness, under the Northern Lights, and gets a festival experience unlike any other. Here is an overview of the venues in 2025.
Kroa
Kroa is an institution in Longyearbyen, full of local history and warmth. Here you can enjoy lunch, dinner or late-night pizza – and during the festival there will be concerts every single day.
Daytime and afternoon concerts prioritize seating, while evening concerts combine both seating and standing room.
True to tradition, the festival ends with a blues jam here on Sunday evening.
Audience capacity:
– Day/afternoon: approx. 120 (seated)
– Evening: approx. 200 (sit/stand)
Kulturhuset
The official opening of Dark Season Blues 2025 will be held in Longyearbyen Kulturhus. Here you get a taste of the festival program, as well as speeches from partners, sponsors and other supporters.
Kulturhuset also offers evening concerts on Thursday and Friday from 21:00, and on Saturday at 17:30 there will be a full house with Walter Trout!
On Thursday and Friday, the venue will be set up with seating – around small tables and rows of chairs. On Saturday there will be a standing concert, with a bar and refreshments in collaboration with Tio Monchos, which also offers tasty street food.
Audience capacity:
– Opening and evening Thursday/Friday: approx. 150 (seated)
– Saturday standing concert: approx. 450 (standing)
Svalbard brewery
Svalbard Bryggeri is one of the festival’s most intimate venues. The venue provides a unique atmosphere among tanks, barrels and the scent of delicious craft beer – brewed locally, under the midnight sun and darkness.
Of course, Svalbard Bryggeri’s own beers are served here, and the concerts have a close and personal atmosphere.
Audience capacity: approx. 70 (seated)
Friday at 18.00
– Kent Erik “9Fingers” Thorvaldsen
– Kai Fjellberg
Gruvelageret
At Gruvelageret you are invited to an atmospheric and exclusive blues dinner in surroundings that ooze mining history.
A three-course menu is served with an accompanying wine package, and the music puts the icing on the cake in a room filled with charm and history.
This event is very popular and always sells out quickly.
Audience capacity: approx. 50 (seated)
Karlsberger pub
Karlsberger Pub is a legendary mining-themed venue known for its impressive selection of fine spirits.
This is one of the festival’s most intimate venues – cramped, warm and with a very special atmosphere when the blues takes over.
Audience capacity: approx. 70 (sit/stand)
Thursday at 21.00
– Kent Erik “9Fingers” Thorvaldsen
– Thorbjørn Risager & Emil Balsgaard
Friday at 21.00
– Ask Carol
Håkon Høye
Saturday at 15.00
– JG Hansen Band
Polarriggen – Vinterhagen Restaurant
Polarriggen is a charming accommodation with a distinctive character. The Winter Garden Restaurant invites you into a warm oasis in the middle of Longyearbyen, where you can enjoy tasty dishes and live music among green plants and warm lamps.
The concerts here are seated, but there is also room for anyone who wants to stand or sit on the floor.
Audience capacity: approx. 70 pax (sit/stand)
Saturday at 13.00
– Dr.Bekken and “9Fingers” Thorvaldsen
Svalbard church
True to tradition, this year there will once again be an atmospheric church concert in Svalbard Church.
The music fills the church room and creates a very special experience that is suitable for both young and old.
In order for everyone to have the best possible experience, we are now only selling tickets for the number of seats inside the church room. You can still choose to sit in the fireplace room if you wish.
Audience capacity: approx. 120 (seated)
Sunday at 17.00
– Bonnie and The Jets
Mine 3
Mine 3, which was in operation until 1996, is now a museum – and a unique concert venue.
Here you’ll experience real mining blues in the open pit, surrounded by machines and industrial history.
There’s a bar serving drinks, and a standing concert – so dress well and wear good shoes.
Bus from the city center (outside Lompensenteret) is included in the ticket.
Audience capacity: approx. 200 (standing)
Saturday at 15.00
– The Kokomo Kings
Polfareren
Restaurant Polfareren is located in the sheltered surroundings of Svalbard Hotell, named after the polar explorer Eivind Astrup The venue has an elegant and relaxed atmosphere, and during the festival it will be transformed into an intimate concert stage with seating and the opportunity to stand at the back.
Audience capacity: approx. 70 (seated/standing at the back)
Friday at 21.00
– Tommy Tito
– Thorbjørn Risager & Emil Balsgaard
Huset
The house has been a gathering place in Longyearbyen for more than 70 years – an icon with tradition and stories in its walls.
After a few years of hiatus, the festival made a comeback here last year, and this year we’re finally back in full swing – as it was before the pandemic put everything on hold.
There will be a blues party on both floors throughout the evening, and there will be a free bus from Kulturhuset to Huset. 19.30.
Audience capacity: Approx. 700 (standing/seated on two floors)
Lørdag kl 20.00
1.etg
– Ask Carol
– Cat Squirrel
– The Kokomo Kings
– Arne Skage and The Procrastinators
2nd floor
– Kat Riggins
– Vanessa Collier
– John Primer with Quique Gomez
– Blått & Rått
Svalbard Museum
After last year’s success with an intimate concert in the middle of the exhibition at Svalbard Museum,
we are repeating the success again this year. Here, Svalbard’s unique natural and cultural history is united
– with the blue notes. This will be a concert a little out of the ordinary, where
you can just sit back and enjoy the music surrounded by the history of Svalbard.
Audience capacity: 50 (seated)
Saturday at 17.30
– Mike Farris
