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Experience the wooden boat town of Risør

Båttur i Risør med trebåten Sonja G og Jan Helgebostad .
Photo: Gjermund Glesnes/Visit Sørlandet
Båttur i Risør med trebåten Sonja G og Jan Helgebostad .
Photo: Gjermund Glesnes/Visit Sørlandet

If you like coastal culture, Risør is your dream town. Risør has a long and rich tradition of building wooden boats and a proud past as one of the country's largest maritime towns in the sailing age. Join the Risør Tree Boat Festival, which has put the white city on the map since 1984. Did you know that Captain Sabeltann's ship itself was created by Risør's active boat builders?

Moen Trebåtbyggeri i Risør - Bue David Andersen lakker sin nye båt .
Photo: Gjermund Glesnes/Visit Sørlandet
Moen Trebåtbyggeri i Risør - Bue David Andersen lakker sin nye båt .
Photo: Gjermund Glesnes/Visit Sørlandet

The wooden boat festival is the city's biggest folk festival

In August you can experience Europe's largest and oldest wooden boat festival. Risør Wooden Boat Festival has been organized every year since 1984. Here there are elegant motorboats, small skiffs, sleek sailing boats, wooden schooners, Viking boats, Colin Archer lifeboats, steamships, fishing vessels, old workhorses and many other classic wooden boats.

Every year 12-15,000 guests visit the Wooden Boat Festival in Risør. During the festival you can enjoy a myriad of concerts and other entertainment in the city and harbour. You can admire the old wooden boats where they lie close together in the harbor basin. There is also a separate regatta for wooden boats during the folk festival. In addition, there are separate activities for children, such as a private pirate voyage.

Risør coastal culture centre

Risør has a very active community of wooden boat builders in the boathouses at Moen, a little outside the city centre. In this cultural monument of great national value, they carry out restoration, repairs and boat building.

In 1994, one of Norway's most famous sailing ships was built at Risør Trebåtbyggeri in Buvika. "The Black Lady" is the story of Captain Sabeltann himself, who wreaks havoc in Kristiansand Animal Park.

The boat builders organize, among other things, Coastal Day, Cultural Heritage Day and a Christmas market, and they have their own program during the Wooden Boat Festival.

Also visit the Risør Coastal Culture Centre, which will collect, preserve and disseminate Risør's boat-building history.

 

Special wooden boats built in Risør

MF Øsang
In Risør you can go on a boat trip with a Norwegian record. Car ferry MF Øsang is one of Risør's prides. It was built at Moen Trebåtbyggeri in Risør in 1950. Today, the boat is the country's oldest wooden car ferry still in operation.

Øster Riisøer 3
Risør has a boat that is the only one of its kind in the world. Øster Riisøer 3 is a gunboat, a "mini-warship". It was built in Risør in 1991 based on a model from 1810, and has a cannon from 1794.

Risør II
Risør II is a Colin Archer lifeboat that was built in Risør in 1914. It is possible to rent Risør II with crew for a day, a weekend or a whole week.

 
Øisangfergen M/F Øisang

Øisangfergen M/F Øisang

M/F Øisang ble bygget på Moen Båtbyggeri i Risør i 1950 og har siden da vært i drift. Fergen trafikkerer mellom Risør by og Øysang. Den er sertifisert for 60 passasjerer og tre biler. Rutebåten kjører alle hverdager hele…

See memories from the sailing ship era

Risør has a rich history as one of the biggest seafaring towns in this country in the sailing age. If you are interested in history and coastal culture, you can book a tour of the Risør Sailing Club, which has an exhibition in the old town hall in Risør (Rådhusgaten 3).

Good view from the old sea mark

Risørflekken is a whitewashed crag that is a very old sea mark for sailing ships at sea. From the spot you have great views of the white wooden town of Risør, the archipelago and the island of Stangholmen.

 

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