Little Norway Festival
Idyll Time’s home port of Petersburg, Alaska is known as Little Norway. The town was settled by Norwegian Peter Buschmann in 1897 and still retains it’s Norwegian heritage. The Little Norway Festival celebrates Syttenede Mai, the signing of Norways constitution on May 17th, 1814. This four day event is Petersburgs biggest festival of the year. The town’s Main Street is adorned with Norwegian flags with booths lining both sides of the street. Locals proudly wear their Norwegian Sweaters during the events. The celebration is kicked off with a parade down Main Street.
Dancers wearing authentic Norwegian Costume weave their way thru town.
They are soon followed by the Vikings and Valkyries in their Viking craft.
One of the festivals highlights is a narrated fashion show and luncheon at the Sons of Norway Hall. Locals model their Norwegian Folk Costumes know as Bunader.
These highly stylized Bunads are unique to each region of Norway and are still worn for special occasions such as weddings.
Many of the Bunads on display today were hand made by our harbor master, Glo. That is quite an accomplishment considering some of these intricate patterns can take several years to complete.
The Vikings and Valkyries crashed the party to display their animal skin costumes as well!
Other events included a tug of war pitting locals against visitors.
Shopping cart races featured participants of all ages and sizes.
The herring toss was not to be missed.
There was even a halibut fletching demonstration.
The annual 7k run/walk was well attended.
The US Forrest Service held a guided muskeg walk that was very informative.
Another highlight was the Viking Shrimp feed. Boiled shrimp, red potatoes, and corn were served Viking style. We ate like the Vikings, communally with our hands!
And of course free ice was available from the LeConte Glacier.
It was a great four day celebration. Even the weather cooperated with sunny skies and 70 degree temps.
After all those activities, we are looking forward to heading out of town to a quite anchorage for some rest. Thanks for following along.
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