Festiviteten.

This building is called Festiviteten, and for many years it was Skien's only proper theater venue. Until 2010, the regional theater of Vestfold and Telemark, Teater Ibsen, was housed in Festiviteten. The duo Karpe has owned the building since 2018. They have used it for several art projects in recent years and have invested in renovations—making upgrades and changes to the interior. The building was inaugurated on Henrik Ibsen’s birthday in 1891 with excerpts from «The Pretenders», «Peer Gynt», «Brand», «An Enemy of the People», and recitations from Ibsen’s lyrical poetry. Additionally, Mathias Skeibrok’s new bust of Ibsen was garlanded, and a letter from Ibsen was read. Henrik Ibsen was, of course, invited to the opening day but did not attend. Instead, he wrote: "How I wish that I could have been present on that occasion. Of my childhood acquaintances, I would probably have met only very few. I would have stood in the midst of a new generation, unfamiliar to me. But fundamentally, perhaps not so unfamiliar after all. Through all the many years of absence, it has always seemed to me as if I still belonged in my hometown. [...] How I wish that I could have personally said this—and more—to you. But in my own way, I am still present among you nonetheless. And should I once more, as I hope, come up to Norway, - yes, then I will see the home again, - the old and yet new home."