NTNU's College of Arts is the oldest school of arts in the country. Many famous teachers and masters have taught here. Since 1994, every year at the end of spring and start of summer, NTNU's College of Arts organizes a vibrant and innovative Festival of the Arts which includes fine arts, music, design, drama and different modes of artistic expression to showcase NTNU's artistic creativity and innovation, and in turn enrich the lives of local residents.

"NTNU Sports Season" was firstly founded at the 60th anniversary of the university in 2006 and was organized by the College of Sports and Recreation. The Sports Season runs from April to June and brings together the regular sporting events that take place annually at NTNU; including the "Arts and Culture Week", "Watersports Athletics Meeting", "Athletics Performance" and a cycling event. All these events form a part of the healthy activities of the Sports Season to showcase the lively and vigorous image of NTNU. One of the most popular events is the annual Athletics Performance which presents the works of graduates from the Departments of Athletic Performance and Physical Education. It is expected that through the promotion of campus sports activities, staff and students as well as the community will embrace the concept of "enjoy sports and live healthily". To incorporate the resources of the university and the community so that the energy of the school can be injected into the community we hope to create a healthy campus and build an excellent community environment.

NTNU has always been one of the core forces in the country when it comes to promoting the development of humanities research and showcasing research results. Since 2001, at the end of autumn and start of winter, all departments of the College of Liberal Arts and affiliated clubs and societies jointly organize a Festival of the Humanities. Each department holds keynote symposia, theater productions in English, singing competitions and other activities.

June 5 is the birthday of NTNU as well as the day of its unique Watermelon Festival. The watermelon as a symbol of love is a tradition at NTNU. The Watermelon Festival originated for two reasons. First is that many years ago, many NTNU students were poor and also shy, and they never knew how to express their feelings to those they secretly admired. It just so happens that around NTNU there were many cheap fruit shops. In the hot and humid days of June, watermelons were the best way to cool down, so after some time, they became a symbol of love for NTNU students. Secondly, "watermelon" sounds like "my beauty" (wode meiren) in Chinese, so male students would use it to show their admiration and love, and to convey their intention of courting a favored lady. On this day, boys gift girls watermelon to try to gain their favor. Different color watermelons have different meanings, red watermelon means admiration and love, yellow watermelon means friendship.