Seven of nine Norwegian youth parties keep summer camps alcohol-free as FpU reviews its rules

19.08.2026 - Norway’s Progress Party Youth (FpU) has announced that it will review its alcohol rules following criticism of drinking at its summer camp, where around three in ten participants were under the age of 18. The discussion has since widened beyond FpU, with a new survey showing that seven of Norway’s nine major political youth organisations held alcohol-free summer camps this year.

The debate began after a 15-year-old participant told Norwegian newspaper VG that he left FpU’s summer camp on Tromøya early because he felt uncomfortable with the extent of drinking and late-night partying. According to information provided by FpU to VG, 61 of approximately 200 participants at the camp were minors. FpU stressed that the organisation itself did not purchase, serve or distribute alcohol, and that alcohol at the camp had been brought by adult participants. The organisation had rules prohibiting alcohol for participants under 18 and the provision of alcohol to minors.

A survey published by P4 on 18 August found that only FpU and Young Liberals (Unge Venstre) allowed beer and wine at their summer camps this year. The other seven organisations surveyed, Red Youth, Socialist Youth, Young Conservatives, Young Christian Democrats, Green Youth, Workers’ Youth League and Centre Youth, held alcohol-free camps. Socialist Youth told P4 that it operates as a drug-free organisation and that participants bringing alcohol to its camp are sent home.

Even among the two organisations permitting alcohol, the arrangements differ. VG reported that Young Liberals restrict alcohol consumption to a designated area monitored by welfare staff, while drinking in sleeping cabins and holding afterparties there are prohibited. FpU’s rules included a ban on providing alcohol to minors and zero tolerance for excessive intoxication, but adult participants could drink in the cabins where participants were staying.

The discussion has also prompted criticism from within FpU. Daniel Walstad, an 18-year-old board member of Oslo Vest FpU, told VG that the organisation should consider limiting alcohol consumption to a common designated area rather than allowing drinking and afterparties in accommodation cabins. He argued that the camp should work for participants regardless of whether they choose to drink.

FpU Secretary General Maia Søe Paulsen has since confirmed that the organisation will review both the rules and the broader framework for its summer camp. She said the feedback received will form part of the organisation’s evaluation and that existing rules and arrangements will be reviewed and revised. FpU has not yet indicated what specific changes it may introduce.

The comparison between the youth parties puts the discussion into a broader perspective. Political youth camps often bring minors together with participants in their late teens and twenties for several days of activities and shared accommodation. In FpU’s case, more than 30 percent of those attending were under 18. While Norwegian youth parties take different political positions on alcohol policy, the survey suggests that keeping summer camps alcohol-free is currently the predominant approach when organising activities that include minors.

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Sources: VG.no; Lyden av Norge