Syttende mai (17th of may )! That ‘s how norwegian call the national day in Norway.
I wanted to share a bit how norwegian celebrate the national day.
What does it mean?
Quote from wikipedia :
The Constitution of Norway was first adopted on May 16, 1814 by the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll (a small town north of the country’s capital, then called Christiania), then signed and dated May 17. It was considered one of the most radically democratic constitutions in the world at the time, and is today the oldest single-document national constitution in Europe – the second oldest in the world – still in continuous force. May 17 is now the National Day of Norway.
for more information (in french)
Norwegian organise at this date each year what they call “tog” ( litterally “train” but that can be translated by “parade”).
in every villages, cities and on some summits, they gather with flags all over the place, on cars, in hands and everywhere where you can put flags. Local music brand parade as well in the cities.
You can hear one of the most popular song in Norway which is named “Norge I Rødt, Hvitt Og Blått” (“Norway in red, white and blue”) and sung by Jens Book-Jenssen ( in 1963).
The melody has been writen by the swedish Lars-Erik Larsson in 1940 and was called at first “Obligationsmarach”. Norwegian keep singing this song during this day !
Food on this day :
The original cake they eat this day is called “kranserkake” (crown cake). It is composed of marzipan and sugar rings on the top of each that shape a cone (picture). white sugar is spread at the top and they put small norwegian flags and petard around. This cake is a souvenir of this new independant kingdom.
Another typical meal that is eaten this day is “pølse og lompe” ( saussage and “potato faritas”). Saussages are grilled on a camp fire or on one use grill that are sadly really common in Norway even if it is terribly unecofriendly… this is actually an aluminium box filled with coal with a grid at the top. it allow not to chop wood or to do grill everywhere but produces at lot of trash.
Norwegian skiing or not !
As you might know, norwegian are keen at skiing ! but what follow will impress you as you will understand how crazy norwegian can be on the 17th of may. With some friend we headed Jotunheimen for this long weekend and on the 17th, we went from juvasshytta after a freezing cold night in tent nearby. We went up at the highest summit of Norway (Galdhøpiggen : 2469m). From there went up this day about 100 people with dogs, by feet, with crosscountry skis, telemark skis, snow shoes and snowboard… Everyone got a flag on the backpack on the dag, or any other place !
My friend Ivar went up with a shirt, a tie and a suit ( in the storm and some time a bit sun : shift every ten minutes and snow in the end !). A big flag on the backpack and let’s go for some skiing ! Rasmus went up with flags at the top of the skis and down with it !! The song at the top was a great moment !
You can conclude that norwegians are really proud of their country and their nature ! they know how to dress up even in the mountains and skiing remains a great passion for them !