Syttende Mai Celebration
Sponsored by Jeff and Marilyn Roverud
- Free museum admission from -
- Children's Parade through Decorah at
- Nordic Dancers at the museum at
- Tours of the Open Air Division at and
- Crafts in the museum from -
- Gallery Talk of the exhibition Polar Exploration at 2:00 p.m.
Celebrate Syttende Mai, Norway’s “Constitution Day,” at Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, on Tuesday, May 17, with a children’s parade, Decorah’s Nordic Dancers, gallery talks, crafts, and free admission to the museum all day. Syttende Mai at Vesterheim is sponsored by Jeff and Marilyn Roverud, Decorah, Iowa.
Syttende Mai, May 17, is the day Norway ratified its constitution in 1814 at Eidsvoll. On “Constitution Day” Norwegians like to focus on children, who will inherit both the spirit of national freedom and the Norwegian heritage and culture that are at the heart of Syttende Mai.
Norwegians traditionally celebrate Syttende Mai with a children’s parade—a crowd of excited children marching through the streets waving flags, singing songs, and bringing good cheer to the day. The Vesterheim children’s parade will begin at 12:30 p.m. The route starts on Main Street in Decorah at the Winneshiek County Courthouse, then travels north along Washington Street to Water Street, then west on Water Street to Mill Street. Everyone is invited to march along or cheer from the sidewalks. Norwegian flags will be provided for everyone marching.
Following the parade, there will be a dance on Mill Street near the museum led by the Nordic Dancers, with audience participation. In case of inclement weather, the parade and Nordic Dancers will be canceled, but all other activities will continue as scheduled.
Inside the museum there will be craft activities from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Folk-artists will demonstrate their crafts at various times throughout the day. There will be guided tours of the buildings in the museum’s Open Air Division at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. At 2:00 p.m. Brian Nowasatka will give a gallery talk about the new exhibition, “Polar Exploration,” which he curated as a student intern.
Nowasatka is a Luther College anthropology major from Granger, Iowa. The exhibition presents the Golden Age of exploration of the Arctic and Antarctica, featuring explorers Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen.
Syttende Mai is also a great time to view the new exhibition “Norwegian-American Lutheran Colleges,” which highlights the contributions Norwegian-American higher education has made to preserving ethnic culture.