Bergen Bobler (Eng)

Apr 17

BERGEN BOBLER

The Nordic Cider and Sparkling Festival - The most international cider festival in the north, and the only one of its kind.

On August 8th, 2026 USF Verftet in Bergen.

The idea behind Bergen Bobler stems from a shared desire among Nordic cider festivals, to create a meeting point for international cider producers somewhere in the Nordic region. Naturally, Western Norway stood out as the ideal location, with Hallen and USF Verftet offering the perfect venue.

We are happy to invite 100 people from the industry ( bars, restaurants, hotels ++) and 900 ticketed guests to join us!

The festival will have two sessions 13.00 -16.00 and 17.00-20.00. And everything is sold out!

BUY TICKETS

INFORMATION FOR MAKERS OR IMPORTERS

Friday

10-1830

Rigging and setting up at USF Verftet

19:30 Meet, eat, bottleshare and Eat!

We kick off the festival with the best part- Meet, greet, bottleshare and eat at the legendary Hoggorm Pizza. Bring whichever bottles you’d like to share with colleagues, our invited guests, and industry friends. We’ll have part of the venue to ourselves, so BYO is actually allowed.

Our good friends at Nordic Pack are treating us to pizza!

Saturday

The day starts with everyone gathering for setup, food, and a few updates from the world.

10:00 - 12:00 Setup

12:00 Shared lunch and info about the day.

13:00 First session opens (500 people)

16:00 First session ends - we eat, restock and recharge for session 2

17:00 Second session starts ( 550 people)

20:00 Second session ends and we rigg down!

21:00 After-party, late-night food, and bottleshare for exhibitors and friends!

Horeca/ industry will be able to enter in the first session.

Location: Hallen, USF Verftet

Georgernes Verft 12, 5011 Bergen

To get to Hallen, drive down the steep hill between Hallen and the USF Verftet building. You’ll see a white tarpaulin roof over what’s usually the parking lot — now part of the festival grounds. There’s no entrance from the regular main entrance / Kippers.

Food Market

There will be food stalls and a bar in the outdoor area by Hallen. Fruktnerdane from NIBIO will have a stand there, and Sommelier Sørensen will be recording his podcast Bak Flasken live. A great spot for guests to hang out before and after their session.

Promotional Material

Here you’ll find posters for the festival and your photo with the festival’s branding! Feel free to share on your own social media and tag us.

Setting up stands!

We’ll be setting up at Verftet from fairly early until the party starts at Hoggorm at 19:30.

It’s possible to leave your goods in Hallen overnight — there’s no security guard, but the doors are locked and the alarm is on at night, so it’s at your own risk.

We recommend coming Friday to get your stand fully set up, so you avoid stress on Saturday morning. There’s no option for refrigeration, but Hallen itself is quite cool, and we’ll have plenty of ice arriving on Saturday.

Stand Decor

There’s no room for large advertising walls, but roll-ups and similar are fine. We really appreciate exhibitors who set up a cool stand. The festival will make signage for each exhibitor, and a map for guests so they can easily find their way around.

Parking

There are no parking spaces at Verftet for exhibitors. You can drive down to unload goods Friday afternoon and evening, and Saturday until 11:00

Tastings

Only guests with a festival pass can buy tickets to these tastings; guests can attend tastings even during the session they don’t hold a ticket for. Entrance to tastings is via Rommet.

14:30–15:10 The four major Norwegian cider styles with Thor Oddvar Havn

16:00–17:00 Blanc de Blancs Champagne with Magnus Nørsett (Only 25 seats)

17:30–18:00 French cider masterclass with Virginie Thomas

18:30 Cider from Sogn masterclass

For producers interested in participating in Bergen Bobler, here's a summary of the key details:

**How to Participate:**

Spaces at the festival are limited, so act quickly if you'd like to secure a spot! Send a email to thomas@festikjeften.no

**Participation Fee:**

The fee is 3000 NOK plus VAT per table ( this can be discussed for foreign makers)

Producers can purchase additional tables if needed—just reach out to discuss this option.

**What's Included:**

- A table for showcasing your bottles

- Tasting glasses

- ice

- Promotion on the event’s website and social media

Free lunch, coffe and panel talk saturday

- Access to internal events friday and saturday night.

**Exhibitor Responsibilities:**

- Producers must bring chilled drinks and necessary staff/equipment for their table.

Only bottles/ bib are accepted at the stand. It might be difficult to send ciders to Norway, check out possible ways as soon as possible. The Festival can not import for you.

You will need from 4-8 bottles of each product for each session. Depending on how big samples you give away. Example - 3 different products, 3 (6 bottle) boxes pr session, 6 boxes in total. And the what you would like to share with other makers and at the bottelshare.

- Travel and accommodation costs are self-funded.

- Submit promotional materials promptly before the festival.

- Provide a minimum of 3 photos of the producer (farm, etc.) without objects conflicting with alcohol regulations. Producers won’t be featured until these images are received.

**Payment Terms:**

The participation fee is invoiced upon contract signing and must be paid as soon as possible. Early payment grants priority placement at the festival.

**Contract Agreement:**

Signing the contract confirms you’ve read and accepted the terms.

To register, you can also send an email to thomas@festikjeften.no or message +47 95878179 with your name, company, phone number, email, and product types.

Getting Your Ciders to Bergen

A practical guide for international producers at The Cider Embassy

The Most Important Thing to Know

You cannot simply post ciders to Norway. Norwegian customs regulations and alcohol import rules mean that sending bottles by regular post or courier can result in them being seized or returned — and the duty costs are extremely high if they get through.

This is not unusual — Norway is outside the EU and has strict alcohol import controls. But there is some practical solution, and producers who plan ahead will have a greater chance of getting their ciders here.

Option 1 — The preferred route: piggyback with an existing importer

The simplest and most cost-effective solution is to find someone who exports to Norway, they have a importer or distributor who already imports alcohol from your country, and ask whether they would be willing to include some case of your ciders as samples in their next shipment.

– This is a common and accepted practice in the industry

– The importer handles all customs paperwork and duty payments

– You cover the cost of the products and any handling fee the importer charges

This is the route we strongly recommend. If you know anyone who exports to Norway, a wine maker, a beer distributor, etc ask them for help.

We can unfortunately not help out with finding importers or exporters

Option 2 — Hand carry

If you are travelling to Bergen Bobler yourself, you may carry a personal allowance of alcohol into Norway duty-free. The current personal import allowance is:

– 1.5 litres of spirits, OR

– 3 litres of wine or cider (under 22% ABV), AND

– 2 litres of beer or low-alcohol cider (under 4.7% ABV)

If you pay toll at around 50nok/5 euros pr bottle you can bring 27 liters of cider with you!

This is most useful for small quantities — enough for a tasting pour, maybe not a full festival presentation. You can toll your goods before you arrive in Norway, there is a app for this!

You can buy extra luggage and stuff if with ciders if you are flying.

Kvoteappen – contains even more information about the rules for bringing your cider to Norway.

Or you pay your toll when you land. Do not try to smuggle the cider. We have already had people lose all of their ciders, get a fine, and a police report atempting to.

The ciders need to be in Norway by 24 of july for us to be sure to serve it!

Can't join the festival- but want to showcase your ciders?