The centerpiece of the event is the trollofon itself, which is an electric trolley-bus built in Bergen in the 50s which has now been refurbished and takes about 70 people. A trolleybus is a bus on wheels but connected to electric wires like a tram. It¥s called "the sputnik" by people here because it was built the same year as the Sputnik went into orbit! It goes from the city centre to the top of a small hill and down again, approx. 40 min. drive, hopefully with you playing your trolleymusicpiece to the people inside! As you draw electricity for your sound equipment directly from the lines, the louder you play the slower the bus moves (and vice versa). Because of the few people possible and also the special and noisy environment of the trollofon we also invite the artists to do a concert at the club Landmark in the evening the day after (or before) where the stage and audience possibilities are better.

The electric engines does not only give the trolleybus its needed power - they also give energy to the Trollofon. The electricity is tapped directly from the wire-network above. Such were the old trolleys. The louder the musicians play the slower the trolleyengines work.

A short history. The festival has been existing in its annual form since 2001, when it was initiated to help save the last trolleybus line in northern europe from being shut down by the local government. In 2002 a victory came in the form of millions of kroner to buy new busses and fix the ageing electrical network. Other artists that have taken the trollofon includes: Maja Ratkje, Fennesz, Oval, Kim Hiorthøy, Francisco Lopez, Alog, Dat Politics, Biosphere, Goodiepal, Tujiko Noriko, Emi Maeda, Lasse Marhaug, Lionel Marchetti, Jaap Blonk, Haco and more.

More Trollo-moments from earlier festivals here and at www.pilota.fm. Further reading on trolley busses, go to our own Trollopedia: www.pilota.fm/trollopedia/engpedia.htm

Støttespillere: Trollofon er en del av programmet til Festspillene i Bergen, og er støttet av Bergen kommune og Gaia trafikk. Spesiell takk til Robot butikken, Landmark, Grandpeople og Pastal Sentral.