Cultural Calendar: February
Get ready for another curated list of the objectively best things to get up to in February.
UKA på Blindern
The ongoing UKA ramps up to some genuinely flamboyant acts in February. On Friday 7.2, kicking off the last leg of the long festival is SWADA, an NRK P3 Urørt pick, and Jesper Jenset, a grizzled veteran of the Norwegian Pop Idol show. On Saturday, Simen Steinklev and the collective Gjenfødt Kultur treat you to a whole eveningful of rap music. Gjenfødt Kultur–the real treat here, if I’m honest–comes equipped with a big band playing funky beats. Worth the ticket fee of NOK 299!
Note, that with a price tag of NOK 759 for the whole weekend, this flashiest part of the UKA festival remains effectively closed off to all but the volunteers and those with pockets deep like the fjords. Truer to its fashion, Inter Universitas lists the less budget-breaking picks below.
Where: Blindern Studenterhjem
When: January 27 - February 10
Read more here.
UNG events at MUNCH
Did you know that the MUNCH Museum dishes out a veritable buffet of evening activities, all free for those under 25? On Valentine’s Day you can craft bouquets of flowers for the lucky recipients of the gracious gift that is your Love. There are also events for redesigning your clothes, and seasonally changing “After Hours”, art shows mixing music, food, and workshops. Drop-in only, no ticket reservations.
Where: Munch Museum
When: Starting from February 14, After Hours biweekly until May
Read more here.
Go to sauna
For the new in town, nothing beats the experience of standing outside in the mean-tempered Oslo winter weather in your swimwear, feeling like the invulnerable sex god that you are, steaming and warm to the core. But how? Check into one of the many saunas lining the harborside around the Opera House. Spend some time in the saunas, have a cold bath in the fjord, live long and prosper.
Of the several spots available, Oslo Badstueforening’s Sukkerbiten gets the editorial recommendation for its views towards the fjord and a pleasantly DIY setting. Its competitor, the ritzy SALT, remains somewhat cheaper, but relies perhaps too heavily on beer and loud music to bolster its atmosphere. Their sauna ritual, however, is worth experiencing.
Where: Several saunas are located around Langkaia and the Opera House
Read more here.
Go to the Botanical Gardens
It won’t look like the Moominvalley, but Oslo’s pleasant Botanical Garden retains a surprising quaintness even at wintertime. For a break from the cold, head to Palmehuset to see the miracle of plants blooming in February. An eponymous palm, grown from a seed brought from the Canary Islands, grew here from 1815 until 2000 when it died. Ringed by cacti and succulents, contemplate the things that came before you and the things to come. For a listening pairing to set the mood, try out the audio version of Virginia Woolf’s Kew Gardens.
Where: Sars’ gate/Monrads gate, Tøyen
When: Every day, 07:00-17:00
Read more here.
Try out canoe polo (sign-up mandatory)
It is time to face the facts–canoe polo really does exist. Pioneered by a secessionist school of thought inside the wider kayaking movement-slash-subculture, canoe polo blends ball sports and cutthroat competition with the leisures of kayaking. The worrying trend has now landed in Oslo, and appears to be enjoying some mass appeal and support from SiO. For having sprung seemingly out of nowhere, the poloists employ a surprisingly sophisticated structure, organizing themselves through OKK, Oslo Kajakklubb, their more “moderate” wing. Sign-up is mandatory, naturally.
Where: If you have to ask the question, you wouldn’t understand the answer (the pool at Norwegian School of Sport Sciences)
When: 2 February, 10:00
Read more and sign up here.
Impro workshop with Impro Neuf (sign-up mandatory)
With the title “Characters: Explore endless possibilities to playfully transform into someone else,” Impro Neuf promises nothing less than metamorphosis. “Have you ever wondered what it’s like to step into someone else’s shoes?”, they ask, and while changing shoes with your friends really isn’t quite what it’s made to be, the allure of freeing yourself of your preconceptions is real and compelling.
With an open mind one can do wonders, it would seem, and I’ll leave behind my snarky tone for long enough to state that the ones looking to make a change in their life could do worse than to try out improvisation; a scary, beautiful thing.
Where: Betong, Chateau Neuf
When: February 19, 19:00
Read more and sign up here.
Stay at home and don’t go anywhere
You could always just stay home, where it's warm and dry and nice, and wait for the spring. After all, your friends are likely to do the same. You know–you should check in on them, they might be feeling lonely or depressed.
This is the season to make an impact in the lives of the ones you care about. We don’t have to rely on ourselves, and only ourselves—if anything, the fantastical notion of self-reliance ends up reinforcing the misconception that we are only what we wear, what we say, essentially that which is separate and different from the others around us. That we, in singular, are individuals.
Yes, but aren’t we also the hearts that flutter a little when we hug our friends and lovers, the jokes we pass back and forth, the smiles, the lungfuls of laughter? What sense does ‘human’ even make when you’re home alone?
