Luttprisen moves to Balestrand

This group is among those who invite you to Luttprisen in Balestrand on Saturday, March 2. From left Kristin Sandal from OnCue, Stian Sjursen Takle from NRK Vestland, Per Áki Sigurdsson Kvikne from Kjartan Lauritzen and Sigurd Kvikne from Kviknes Hotel.

The stage is set for a glamorous party when Luttprisen moves to 6899 Balestrand in March. Together with Kviknes Hotel and the gang at Balestrand Hotel, Luttprisen invites everyone to celebrate the music scene in Sogn og Fjordane in the scenic cultural village.

- I've been looking forward to this for a long time. I can promise that this will be a party you won't want to miss. On Saturday, March 2, we will really show how much good Sogn, Sunnfjord and Nordfjord have to offer, says project manager at NRK Vestland, Stian Sjursen Takle.

List price number 18

The Lutt Prize aims to highlight the music scene in Sogn og Fjordane, and has so far been awarded 17 times. Every quarter, major award shows have been held around the northern part of Vestland county. Last year, Odd-Erik Lothe was artist of the year at Operahuset Nordfjord. This year, the award ceremony is held in Balestrand, in a collaboration between the gang in Kjartan Lauritzen, Kviknes Hotel, Brak, Vestland County Council, the production company OnCue and NRK Vestland. 

- Our local fiddler

In Balestrand, they are looking forward to hosting this year's award ceremony.
- "When I was asked if it would be possible to bring the Lutt Prize to Balestrand, we were all very excited. We had to make this happen. For us, the Lutt Prize is our local Spellemann Prize, and one of the most important contributions to promoting local musicians. We are extremely grateful for what they, and especially Stian, do for music in Sogn og Fjordane. I hope both the industry, artists and the audience will come to join us for a real Balestrandfest," says Teddy and Per at Balestrand Hotell. 

Norway's most played

The music scene in Sogn og Fjordane is booming right now. Five of the most played artists on Norway's largest radio channel, NRKP1, are from Sogn, Sunnfjord and Nordfjord. 

-Fantastic! This has never happened before! It's extra special that all five will be performing at the Luttprisen in Balestrand," says Sjursen Takle of NRK Vestland. He refers to Anna Lille from Nordfjordeid, Oddny from Bremanger, Line Dybedal from Stad, Håvard from Gloppen and MAIH from Fjaler.

Arian will rent the show

But they are far from the only artists taking the stage at Kviknes Hotel on this festive evening. Finn Tokvam, Olav Stedje and Odd-Erik Lothe, Gunn Kvaale, b0ka and of course Kjartan Lauritzen will also be there. The host of the show is Arian Engebø from Førde. She has previously hosted both the Norwegian final of MGP and P3 Gull.
-We haven't finished the schedule for the show. So there may well be some surprises. In addition, we'll be awarding prizes for artist of the year, newcomer of the year and an award for enthusiast of the year," says project manager Sjursen Takle. There will also be a professional program, prelude and after party at Balestrand Hotel during the Luttprishelga weekend.

These could be artist of the year

16 artists have been nominated to win the Lutt Prize as artist of the year. You can vote for your favorite at the bottom of this article. The nominees are:

Kjartan Lauritzen is among the artists taking the stage at Luttprisen in Balestrand on Saturday, March 2.

• Sigrid Moldestad

• Olav Stedje

• Odd-Erik Lothe and Finn Tokvam

• Teo

• Eirik Sognnes

• Erlend Apneseth trio

• Karl Seglem

• Good Time Charlie

• Steinar Karlsen

• Elida Høgalmen

• Kjartan Lauritze

• b0ka

• Tungevaag

• Sigrid Felde

• Gunn Kvaale

• Line Dybedal

• Eva Weel Skram

These could be this year's newcomers

Five artists have been nominated for Newcomer of the Year. You can also vote for them at the bottom of this article. The nominees are Anna Lille, Oddny, MAIH, We Met in June and Håvard. The prizes are grants of NOK 25,000 from the savings bank foundations of Sparebanken Sogn og Fjordane and Sparebanken Vest. The deadline for submitting votes for the Lutt Prize is 25 February at 11 p.m. You can only vote twice a day for your favorite. The Lutt Prize is decided by an expert jury together with the votes from the public jury.

Nominate your enthusiast

A prize will also be awarded to the enthusiast of the year under the Lutt Prize. This award will go to a person or group that promotes musicians from Sogn og Fjordane. The award has previously gone to Arnt-Ivar Naustdal in Malakoff and Viggo Randal in Utkantfestivalen. You can nominate your candidate by sending an email with reasons to brak@brak.no before February 20.

Live on the radio
Tickets for this year's Luttpris at Kviknes hotel in Balestrand will go on sale at TicketCo on Thursday, January 25 at 09:00.

The Luttprisen will be broadcast live on the radio in Sogn og Fjordane on Saturday, March 2 at 9 pm. The day before, the entire day's broadcast from Balestrand Hotel will be broadcast with only music from Sogn og Fjordane. The music organization Brak and Vestland County Council are also organizing a seminar for organizers, musicians and festivals during the Luttprisen weekend.