Hilde Bjørkum is the co-founder and artistic and managing director of Førde Traditional and World Music Festival, the largest festival of it’s kind in Scandinavia. She has established the festival with a high artistic level, a family friendly profile and a multigenerational audience. Bjørkum has over the years had several roles in the culture scene in Norway and internationally, by work for Norway Arts Council, the Norwegian Council for Traditional Music and Dance, the Ministry of Culture, European Forum of Worldwide Music Festivals, European Union’s culture program and the Norwegian Academy of Music. She is now the president of the network association Norway Festivals. Hilde Bjørkum was also a renown Norwegian folk dancer with 3 national championships.