The first festival that started on 1 June 1953, exactly 55 years after its predecessor and source of inspiration, the first music festival in Norway Edvard Grieg's Bergen Music Festival starting on the 26 June 1898. The model was the Salzburg Festival, and the initiative came partly from opera singer Fanny Elstad.
The inaugural event occurred on June 1, 1953, echoing the timing of its predecessor, Norway's first music festival, Edvard Grieg's Bergen Music Festival, which began on June 26, 1898. The prototype was the celebrated Salzburg Festival, and the idea originated from opera singer Fanny Elstad.