Festivalområdet åpner nå.

Festivalområdet literally means the festival area.

It is made up of:

• festival = festival
• område = area

In natural English, depending on context, it could also be translated as the festival grounds.

Because Norwegian very often forms compound nouns by writing them as a single word.

So:

• festival
  • område → festivalområde = festival area

Then, when you make it definite:

• festivalområdet = the festival area

This is very normal in Norwegian. English often uses two words where Norwegian uses one compound word.

The ending -et is the definite article attached to the noun. It means the.

The base noun is:

• et område = an area

The definite form is:

• området = the area

So:

• festivalområde = festival area
• festivalområdet = the festival area

This is a key feature of Norwegian: instead of putting the in front, Norwegian often adds a definite ending to the noun.

Because in Norwegian, the idea of the is usually built into the noun itself.

So instead of saying something like the festival area, Norwegian says:

• festivalområdet

That final -et already carries the meaning of the.

Åpner is the present tense of the verb å åpne, which means to open.

So:

• å åpne = to open
• åpner = opens / is opening

In this sentence, Festivalområdet åpner nå can mean:

• The festival area opens now
• The festival area is opening now

Which English version sounds best depends on context.

Norwegian usually does not have a separate continuous form like English is opening.

Instead, the ordinary present tense often covers both:

• opens
• is opening

So åpner can express either a general present or an action happening right now, especially when nå is added.

Nå means now.

It tells you that the opening is happening at this moment or from this point in time.

So:

• Festivalområdet åpner nå = The festival area is opening now / The festival area opens now

Without nå, the sentence would sound more general:

• Festivalområdet åpner = The festival area opens / is opening

This is the normal Norwegian main-clause word order:

• subject
  • verb
    • time expression

So:

• Festivalområdet = subject
• åpner = verb
• nå = time expression

That said, Norwegian is a V2 language, so you can also move nå to the front:

• Nå åpner festivalområdet.

That also means Now the festival area is opening.
When another element comes first, the verb still stays in second position.

Yes, absolutely.

Both are correct:

• Festivalområdet åpner nå
• Nå åpner festivalområdet

The difference is mainly emphasis:

• Festivalområdet åpner nå focuses first on the festival area
• Nå åpner festivalområdet focuses first on now

Both are natural.

A rough guide:

• å sounds somewhat like the vowel in British more or law, though not exactly the same
• åpner is roughly OP-ner
• området is roughly OM-roh-det

A few useful notes:

• å is its own letter in Norwegian
• In område, the d is often softened or not strongly pronounced in everyday speech
• Stress is usually near the beginning of the word: OMråde, OPner

If you are learning Bokmål pronunciation, listening to native audio is especially helpful here.

Område is a neuter noun in Norwegian.

That is why you say:

• et område = an area
• området = the area

Yes, the gender matters because it affects:

• the indefinite article: et
• the definite ending: -et

If it were a common-gender noun instead, the forms would be different.

Grammatically, it most directly means The festival area opens now or is opening now.

If you want to say is now open, Norwegian would more naturally use something like:

• Festivalområdet er nå åpent.

So:

• åpner nå = opens now / is opening now
• er nå åpent = is now open

They are related, but not exactly the same.