Young people in the Norwegian city of Ålesund have their own two-day music festival this weekend. Spirefest 26, taking place on 4 and 5 September at Terminalen Byscene, is sold out, with organisers saying demand was so strong that tickets disappeared in record time. What makes the festival particularly interesting from a prevention perspective is that it offers teenagers a professional festival experience while being completely alcohol- and drug-free.

The rules are explicit: Spirefest has zero tolerance for alcohol and other drugs both before and during the event, and entry control is required. But substance use is not the festival’s main message. The attraction is the festival itself. This year’s programme includes Tigergutt, Ylva, Makosir and Blvck Child on Friday, followed by Ari Bajgora, May, Golf and Randi Oline on Saturday. Silent Disco runs on both evenings, alongside festival activities including a rodeo bull, festival makeup, a selfie mirror and a charging lounge.

That distinction is important. Spirefest is not asking young people to attend a health lecture because alcohol can be harmful. It is giving them access to the kind of music, artists, production and atmosphere associated with mainstream festivals, while making alcohol and other drugs irrelevant to the experience. The official information also encourages young people to attend independently rather than accompanied by adults, describing the wider Spire vision as “by youth, for youth.” Adults and security staff are present to provide a safe setting, but the intention is for teenagers to experience the festival on their own terms.

Spirefest emerged from a concrete gap in Ålesund’s cultural life. When the larger Jugendfest raised its age limit to 18, younger teenagers lost access to a major local festival experience. Spirefest was created in response, with its first edition held in 2024. Organisers have described the ambition as creating a professional, full-scale festival specifically for young people, rather than offering them a smaller or less attractive substitute. The first edition was a success, and the following editions have continued to sell strongly.

Young people are also involved behind the scenes. Through the wider Spire programme, youth ambassadors can take part in organising concerts and events, including technical work, artist hosting, marketing and event delivery. Spire itself is a broader concert and event initiative for young people in Ålesund, with concerts, workshops and other activities continuing beyond the annual festival weekend.

The model has attracted recognition beyond Ålesund. In 2025, Spire was nominated for the Norwegian music industry’s Bransjeprisen in the category Initiative of the Year, with its work creating alcohol- and drug-free concert experiences for young people specifically highlighted. The wider Spire initiative has also expanded beyond Ålesund to other Norwegian cities.

For alcohol and drug prevention, the interesting lesson may be what Spirefest does not do. It does not make abstaining from alcohol the entertainment. Instead, music, friends, dancing and the festival experience are the entertainment, while the substance-free environment is simply the norm.

That matters because prevention can also be about the environments available to young people. If alcohol-free alternatives are visibly adult-designed, educational or less attractive than mainstream events, young people may understandably see them as second-best. Spirefest takes the opposite approach: book artists young people actually want to see, create a genuine festival atmosphere, involve young people in shaping it, and then make an alcohol- and drug-free setting part of how the event normally works.

Find more from Spire (Norway, September 2026)