scandinavian festival

In Jamestown, New York, there is a little-known Scandinavian Festival which has been going on for a few years.  The festival is mostly made up of local craftsmen and volunteers who celebrate their Nordic ancestors who settled in the western part of New York.  This year my sisters and I went as our mother's family is from Copenhagen, Denmark.  I have also studied Scandinavian culture and I was excited to learn more.

First on the agenda for the day was the May Pole ceremony where those participating carry in the May Pole and stand it up in its place.  Then those who wish to, gather around and dance traditional pieces.  I was standing too close and so I had the chance to participate. What I thought would be a quick, one dance turned into a thirty minute dance lesson.  It was quite crazy; nobody actually seemed to know what they were doing, but it was great fun and I learned some Swedish dances!

We walked around a bit before settling in to watch a Hans Christian Andersen impersonator who spoke with a "Danish" accent and recounted his stories for the children.  He also did paper cutouts while speaking - something that Hans Christian Andersen is said to have done.  The impersonator did a great job and was a hit with the kids (and the adults).

After wandering around a bit, we stopped and purchased some Danish salt and pepper shakers for our mom and then got some Swedish lunch.  We tried quite a few different things, including Swedish meatballs, kurv (like sausage), boiled potatoes, cucumber salad and rice pudding. We also got some rye bread and lingonberry preserves which were interesting. I preferred the lingonberry drink which we also got to sample.

From there we decided to check out the craft tents.  The main craft going on was ros mal painting of Dala horses which was pretty involved.  Nevertheless, my younger sisters and I did our best and had fun learning and painting small horses to take home.  It was definitely harder than it looked to get it perfect!  Our last activity for the day was the paper cut outs.  The HCA impersonator had some templates we could use so I made a butterfly and then added some more details to make it a little nicer.  It was quite a lot of fun!

My finished Dala horse.

 Fun finds at the Festival:

Dala shaped cake pans

There was a blacksmith who had a forge set up at the festival and some of his wares on display:

Swedish Barbie!

If you're in the area next year, please go have a look around! It's a fun time, especially with the kids, whether or not you're of Scandinavian ancestry!