17 MAI!
Today is Norway’s independence day– AKA one of the best days of the year! I lived in Norway for almost two years and absolutely fell in love with the country, culture, and everything that is Norwegian. Some of my all-time favorite memories were made when celebrating this fun holiday!
If you haven’t ever heard of this holiday, allow me to tell you a little bit about it. I am by no means an expert on all things Norwegian so hopefully, everything I say is correct and if you are an expert, feel free to correct me!
To celebrate the independence of Norway, Norwegians dress up in their traditional clothing called a bunad– they are sooo beautiful! There are different colors and embroidery designs that are put on bunads from different cities and parts of the country, and you can only wear bunads from the place either your mother or father is from. Everyone gathers together in the city center to celebrate all together and since not everyone is living in the place they come from when you look out over everyone there are so many different colors and designs– so beautiful!
All the children in the town get dressed up as well and are a part of what’s called a barnetoget which means children train in English and is basically a parade haha it’s so cute! They basically walk all around the city and in Oslo, the country’s capital, they walk up the long walkway that leads to the palace where they are greeted by the royal family!! Can you say fairytale?? Even though it’s a parade, it’s nothing like the kind of elaborate parades we have here in the US they are simply children walking with their schoolmates and bands playing and sometimes some dancers. It really is so charming!
One of the cutest parts of this holiday to me is that instead of saying something like “happy fourth of July!” as we say here in the US, they say “gratulerer med dagen!” which means “happy birthday” haha and in response, you say the same back! You’re basically wishing everyone a happy birthday and they are doing the same to you because they are celebrating Norway’s birthday! Not sure why we don’t do that but it’s one of my favorite parts of this tradition!
Foodwise, it’s basically required that you eat your weight in Norwegian hotdogs (I normally am not the biggest hotdog fan but Norway does them RIGHT), and ice cream! It’s the best. To celebrate this year we had Norwegian waffles with brown cheese (sounds crazy but is delicious– you can find some at Sprouts or Harmons here in Utah!), jam, and sour cream!! People get freaked out when they hear all of this but trust me, it’s the most insane combination ever and you will not regret trying it!! There are also lots of yummy cakes and pastries and ice cream bars and chocolate and SMASH my actual favorite treat in the whole world. Moral of the story? You need to go to Norway!!!
This year, I celebrated with my family and their cutest dog Rosie! I love her so much she is seriously sooo cute! Also, the waffles they make in Norway are in the shape of four hearts which is why this dress is absolutely PERFECT to celebrate! If you look at it, it’s covered in lots of little hearts in that same pattern and looks so Scandinavian to me. I love it so much 🙂
LMK if you have any Norway-related questions– I’d love to answer as best I can!
Gratulerer med dagen!
Xoxo
Madeline
