arctic living
High Noon 2026: Northern Debate on Mental Pressure, Today’s USA and Lessons from Finland
Next week, the debate series High Noon will take place during the True Northern Arts Festival in Northern Norway. This year’s edition offers dance and choral singing, as well as strong voices from fields such as arts and culture, research and defense. Among the primary guests is Norway's Chief of Defense Eirik Kristoffersen.
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On Wednesday, June 24, the debate series High Noon starts as part of the True Northern Arts Festival in Harstad, Northern Norway.
Overall, the debates have their starting point in the following questions: Do they see us who live here – everyone who wants a piece of us? When the world turns its gaze northwards, what happens to everyday life, identity, and local communities?
The debates will be led by Arne O. Holm, Editor of High North News. They will take place from 11:30 AM at the Nordic Pub and will also be streamed on HNN's website.
“For us as a newspaper for the Arctic, it is important to meet the people we write for and the True Northern Arts Festival is such an opportunity,” says Holm, outlining this year’s debates:
“Russia is our closest neighbor. Together with an accelerating climate crisis, it is natural to ask the question: what is it doing to us? And not least, how do we deal with this pressure in everyday life?”
“Of course, we must also discuss developments in the United States, our most powerful ally. How can we understand what is happening in the US and what does this mean for our security? This will be a two-part debate in which we will have both Norway's leading US experts and Norwegian Chief of Defense as panelists.”
“A highlight”
“In the third and final debate, we take a closer look at our neighboring country and the new NATO country Finland. What do we really know about Finland? What are myths and what is truth?” continues Holm.
High Noon is also an arena where politics and culture meet. Accordingly, the format includes artists who both participates in the debates and perform on stage.
The objective of the debate series is to move the major geopolitical discussions closer to the people and communities who live with the consequences.
“For me, this is a highlight. Not least because the best journalism is created precisely in encounters with people who live their lives in the midst of the international politics that characterize the High North,” the HNN editor points out.
Contribution to a broader discussion
High Noon is an important part of the True Northern Arts Festival program, says new Festival Director Susanne Næss Nielsen.
“We increasingly find that our geographical position in the North puts us at the center of global discussions about rights, the environment and politics. Therefore, High Noon is a fantastic meeting place where we can become wiser about the forces that play a role in the development of the North,” emphasizes Nielsen and continues:
“It is important for the True Northern Arts Festival that we are also an arena for discussing different positions when it comes to what kind of society we have and what we want. Arne O. Holm is a journalist with extensive understanding and long experience in the North. With him and the editorial team of High North News at the helm, we are confident that the audience always leaves a little wiser than they came.”
Keywords and line-up
This is to be discussed, and these will contribute throughout the week:
Wednesday 24.06: How do we cope with the mental pressure?
We live close to Russia and are surrounded by military exercises, in addition to a rather gloomy news picture. How do we deal with this, and what does it do to us? A kind of self-help debate in a tiring time.
Primary guest: Navid Rezvani, Norwegian-Iranian dancer and choreographer.
Panel: Finn Skårderud, author and former psychiatrist; Martine Lødding, project manager for True North – Tromsø as European Youth Capital in 2026; Stig Lægdene, bishop of Nord-Hålogaland.
Artistic performance by Rezvani.
Thursday 25.06: How to understand today's USA?
What is actually happening in the United States? And what does it mean for us? We invite you to a debate with analyses of developments in the country that is our most powerful ally, and look at the security policy consequences for the future of the Nordic Arctic.
Primary guest: Norway’s Chief of Defense, General Eirik Kristoffersen.
Panel: Bård Larsen, historian at the think tank Civita; Hilde Eliassen Restad, associate professor of international relations, Oslo New University College; Andreas Østhagen, research director for Arctic and ocean politics, the Fridtjof Nansen Institute.
Artistic performance by the chamber choir Vokal nord.
Friday 26.06: What can we learn from Finland?
We are neighbours in the North, and members of the same defense alliance, but what do we really know about each other? What are myths, and what are truths? How and why should we cooperate? The aim here is to get to know our Nordic neighbour better.
Primary guest: Kristina Junttila Valkoinen, Norwegian-Finnish performance artist, educator and researcher.
Panel: Sanna Salo, senior researcher at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs; Deputy Commander of the Norwegian Army, Brigadier Trond Nilsen; Laura Piitulainen, senior advisor at the Embassy of Finland in Oslo; Ragnar Bøifot, news editor at Fremover.
Artistic performance by musician Birk Arvola.
Also read:
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The World is Rearming For War – It is Felt Deep in The Mountains of Northern Norway
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“The Arctic Is a Mirror of What Happens Around the World”
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High Noon 2025: Northern Debate on Svalbard, Tax Cuts, Norway Seen From Russia, and Dictatorship
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Call From Longyearbyen for Increased Norwegian Military Presence in Svalbard
