The 17th of May is Norway's constitutional day and one of the biggest events of the year!
It's a day filled with family and friends. It's a relaxed and quite simpel day, but all the more fun because of it!
The day often starts with a potluck breakfast with family or with friends. This breakfast often includes waffles, brownies, fruits and champagne. When you celebrate with Norwegian you will see many of them arriving in their Bunads. A bunad is the Norwegian traditional outfit. Where this has become terribly outdated in the Netherlands, in Norway this part of the culture is still (and luckily) will highly valued and appreciated. They often get their Bunad at their confirmation when they are 15/16 years old. Each region in Norway has different Bunads, you get the one that belongs to the region you grew up in. Bunads are worn to confirm, weddings, the 17th of May and other important events such as graduations. These outfits are hand sewn and incredibly valuable, they either cost a lot of money or are inherited from generation on generation. People are proud of their Bunad!
After breakfast people will go into town where the parades take place. There are 3 big parades, the kids parade, the normal parade and the Russ parate. They all feel a bit old school and village-like to me, but it is fun to watch for a bit (in Oslo they walk pass the Royal Family).
During the kids and normal parade people walk with banners from their organisation or sportclub. There is music and some will do a small performance. During the normal parade there are many people walking in their Bunad and waving to the people on the sides. The Russ parade is done by the seniors in High school and it makes the end of the Russ periode, after which their exams will begin. It is often characterized by loud music and druk students in their Russ outfits.
During the day kids and adults enjoy ice cream and candy!
After the parade many people will hangout in de parks or continue the party at home.
I had the pleasure of celebrating this holiday twice, both times the weather was amazing and I got to spend it with lovely people. Just like the Norwegians we started with breakfast and spent the rest of the day in town watching the parade while waving the Norwegian flag! The second time I made my own scrap-material Bunad. It was received very positively by the Norwegian people!
So what to do on the 17 of May in Norway?
- Dress in Red, White and Blue (and a little fancy)
- Enjoy a champagne breakfast
- Watch the parade (also the Russ one for the experience)
- Eat icecream
- Enjoy at the beautiful Bunads
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