A taste of Norway in the U.S.\u00a0 That’s what you’ll get if you attend one of the Norwegian celebrations around the U.S.\u00a0 Go to Decorah, Iowa at the end of July and you’ll experience ‘Nordic Fest,’ a weekend to celebrate\u00a0Norwegian and all things Norway.\u00a0 You will find music, dancing, fireworks, a parade, an antique and craft show, a bunad show, a children’s carnival and petting zoo, traditional Norwegian sporting events, as well as lots of traditional food!\u00a0 The tradition of Nordic Fest in Decorah began in 1966 when the Luther Women’s Club wanted to expand the celebration from a Syttende Mai (17th of May, Norway’s Constitution Day) dinner on campus to a bigger and better party.\u00a0\u00a0 They certainly suceeded.\u00a0 Over 1.5 million people have attended Nordic Fest since the companys finding.\u00a0 This year will mark the 43rd anniversay of Nordic\u00a0Fest.<\/p>\n
Another big and well-known Norwegian celebration is ‘H\u00f8stfest’ <\/strong>(Fall Festival) in Minot, North Dakota.\u00a0 This festival actually celebrates Scandinavian cultures as a whole.\u00a0 That means Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, and Denmark are all represented at H\u00f8stfest.\u00a0 <\/strong>This year will mark the 31st year of H\u00f8stfest.\u00a0 <\/strong>It usually falls at the end of September to really kick off the fall (h\u00f8st) <\/strong>season.\u00a0 This festival is quite a bit bigger than ‘Nordic Fest’ in Iowa: 200 internationally known chefs, craftsman, and artisans participate every year.<\/p>\n Have you heard of Syttende mai?\u00a0 <\/strong>(The 17th of May, Norways’s Constitution Day)\u00a0 It is arguably the most important day in modern Norway’s history, if not the entire history.\u00a0 Syttende mai <\/strong>is also right up there with Christmas as the most important day of the year.\u00a0 There are parades OVERALT <\/strong>(EVERYWHERE)-small villages, big cities, hva som helst <\/strong>(whatever).\u00a0 I attended the parade in Oslo on the 17th of May, 2006 and it was insane!\u00a0 So many people in traditional dress, so many people.\u00a0 I will go into more detail about Syttende mai <\/strong>in a later post.\u00a0 It really is an incredible event.<\/p>\n The point is you can enjoy the kind of Syttende mai <\/strong>spirit here in the U.S. if you can get yourself to a city that celebrates it!\u00a0 The city I live in, with a population of about 18,000, does not have a parade, but at least\u00a02 institutions celebrate the important date.\u00a0 At St. Olaf, there is a huge Syttende mai frokost <\/strong>(17th of May breakfast) with homemade waffles, strong coffee, bunads, and delightful fiddle music.\u00a0 At a lutheran church 2 blocks from my house there is a Syttende mai frokost<\/strong> with everything from laks <\/strong>(salmon) to lefse.\u00a0 <\/strong>I know that New York City has a very large Syttende mai<\/strong>\u00a0celebration with a parade and lots of music and food as well.\u00a0 I think it’s great that there is still plenty of interest in communities for this type of thing.\u00a0 It would have been easy to think 10 or 20 years ago that as more and more young individuals mate outside of their ethnic heritage group, interest in cultural celebrations of one’s ancestors would diminish.\u00a0\u00a0At least in my area of the country, I have not seen evidence of this.\u00a0 I know quite a few people that attend one or more of these events a year and they are very enthusiastic about it.\u00a0<\/p>\n Find yourself a place to celebrate something Norwegian, whether it be the language, music, history, or hva som helst<\/strong>, put yourself out there, meet people with similar interests, and perhaps learn something new!\ufffd<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A taste of Norway in the U.S.\u00a0 That’s what you’ll get if you attend one of the Norwegian celebrations around the U.S.\u00a0 Go to Decorah, Iowa at the end of July and you’ll experience ‘Nordic Fest,’ a weekend to celebrate\u00a0Norwegian and all things Norway.\u00a0 You will find music, dancing, fireworks, a parade, an antique and…<\/p>\n