The festival takes place July 25th - August 1st in Fagernes, in the heart of the Valdres district, a three-hour drive north of Oslo.

The festival is comprised of two parts: A week-long Strunkeveko "Boot Camp" and the actual Jørn Hilme-stemnet. This is really a folk music festival of concerts, dance parties, classes and a competition for folk musicians, singers and dancers. STRUNKEVEKO "BOOT CAMP" Boot Camp is a 6-day summer school in folk music for children and young adults (ages 11-20) who are from the Student districts in Norway. The camp has around 20 instructors. The festival jokingly have three criteria to be an instructor: they must be an exceptional folk musician, young, and single! The festival have space for up to 110 students this year. Adults can also participate if they contact the festival. Many concerts are open to the public, including: Teacher's Concert with the masterclass students Farewell Concert with all the Boot Camp students.

JØRN HILME-STEMNET: At the festival you'll get a little of everything. There will be many concerts, but you can also participate in one of their courses, offered at different venues at the museum and Quality Hotel Fagernes, or just jaunt around yourself. For many, just meeting friends at the museum or camping place in an informal setting is a treat. Sometimes you might even happen upon a good fiddler and gather around. In Norway, we call these outdoor impromptus "bush concerts".

COURSES FOR ADULTS: There will be courses with the best instructors of the Valdres tradition in springar, gamaldans, singing, jaw harp, langeleik and flutes. Participants in the intermediate course in springar are invited to join in when the dance groups compete during the competition events! The free gamaldans course takes place Tuesday and Wednesday, the other courses on Thursday and Friday.

DANCING Jørn Hilme-stemnet is especially well known for its fine dancing opportunities. They have a total of 6 dance floors at the museum during the evenings. There will be mainly "bygdedans" dancing from many districts, but also gamaldans. The festival has gamaldans-bands playing friday and saturday nights. Of course, one can also experience dance during the competition, in the courses or among the bushes!

COMPETITION (KAPPLEIK): On Saturday and Sunday, the traditional competition, or kappleik, is held. This kappleik is one of the largest in the country and many different classifications or levels are represented. In particular, there is an "open class" in which people can enter with newly composed pieces or "non-traditional" folk music. We also have a classification for cow calling, drumming, lur (large horn) and bukkehorn (animal horn). Fortunately, this part of the competition takes place outside! Classification for participants: Class A: For those who have won 1st prize area in two Landskappleiks (National Competitions) Class B: For all others aged 18-60 Class C: For performers aged 12-18 Class D: For those over 60 Recruiting Class: For those under 12. This level is not judged or awarded points.