Children's Day in Norway
In Norway, May 17th (Syttende Mai, in Norwegian) is a national holiday celebrated as a children’s festival but it also marks Norway’s declaration of independence from Swedish and Danish rule. On Syttende Mai, children all over Norway traditionally eat ice cream and hot dogs to their heart’s content. Syttende Mai is especially big in Oslo, the capital of Norway. Over 100,000 people will gather in the city for the day’s festivities of parades, food and games.
Children gather for the marching parades around 8 o’clock at Karl Johans Gate, Oslo’s main street. Their teachers have the option of marching with them. Everyone wears their best spring clothes and a red, white and blue ribbon (the colors of the Norwegian flag) pinned to their shirts or coats. Some people will wear a bunad—the word literally means “homeplace clothes”—a costume that Norwegians traditionally wear on special occasions, like Syttende Mai. The style and colors of the bunad vary depending on the homeplace, or place of birth, of the wearer. The Hadeland bunad is especially festive. This bunad is made up of a white cotton shirt, a red vest, a black jacket and short black pants just below the knee, with long white socks and black, buckled shoes. Hadeland means land of warriors and is located about one hour north of Oslo.
The children will finish staging themselves for the march by 10 o’clock, the starting time for the parade. The senior elementary school students will assemble themselves first, carrying their school’s official banner, followed by other senior students carrying full-sized flags that tower over their heads. After them the school bands will assemble and then the rest of the students, followed by their families. Not all of the families will march with their children, though. Some will wait at the end of the parade route and collect their children there. The parade route is not long—only about a mile in length—but the parade will take almost three hours for all 50,000 or so students from over 100 schools in Oslo to march the route.
The roar of military planes flying in the direction of the Royal Palace (where the King and Queen of Norway reside) signals the start of the parade, led by the mayor of Oslo and the city council. All along the route, onlookers will cheer on the students by blowing whistles, waving flags and shouting cheers. Balloons of every size, shape and color also bob furiously in the air.
The royal family stands on the palace balcony decorated with a big red banner to greet the paraders, many of whom will sing the national anthem (“Yes, We Love This Country”) as they march by the palace, joined by the throngs of crowds around them. Most groups end their parading after passing the palace.
For many children, the day is just beginning as they take kroner (Norwegian money) from their parents to buy ice cream and hot dogs from the vendors lining the streets. Besides eating, children play a popular game called fisketur (fishing), consisting of a fishing pole made of a bucket attached to a pole with string. In this game, children pretend to fish by throwing a bucket behind a sheet, and an adult on the other side of the sheet fills the bucket with small prizes, like chewing gum, erasers and pencils.
During the afternoon, the parades for older children begin. That’s when the high school seniors, or russ as they’re called, celebrate the end of their schooling. They parade through the streets on big colorful buses—painted red, blue or black. The colors stand for the kind of subjects the russ studied. Red (the most popular color) stands for general studies. Blue means finance. Black signifies carpentry and other trades. The russ wear matching overalls, too. Their buses are equipped with booming stereo systems, and they throw russ cards (russekort, in Norwegian) to the younger children. Russ cards are like trading cards. Each student creates his or her own card with a photo, name and slogan on it.
After collecting their cards, the children will head home for family gatherings full of all the usual desserts for the festive day—sour cream porridge with sugar and cinnamon toppings, fruit soup, fresh berries and cream layer cake.
The Best Words Ever is a story about Children's Day in Norway.
Children gather for the marching parades around 8 o’clock at Karl Johans Gate, Oslo’s main street. Their teachers have the option of marching with them. Everyone wears their best spring clothes and a red, white and blue ribbon (the colors of the Norwegian flag) pinned to their shirts or coats. Some people will wear a bunad—the word literally means “homeplace clothes”—a costume that Norwegians traditionally wear on special occasions, like Syttende Mai. The style and colors of the bunad vary depending on the homeplace, or place of birth, of the wearer. The Hadeland bunad is especially festive. This bunad is made up of a white cotton shirt, a red vest, a black jacket and short black pants just below the knee, with long white socks and black, buckled shoes. Hadeland means land of warriors and is located about one hour north of Oslo.
The children will finish staging themselves for the march by 10 o’clock, the starting time for the parade. The senior elementary school students will assemble themselves first, carrying their school’s official banner, followed by other senior students carrying full-sized flags that tower over their heads. After them the school bands will assemble and then the rest of the students, followed by their families. Not all of the families will march with their children, though. Some will wait at the end of the parade route and collect their children there. The parade route is not long—only about a mile in length—but the parade will take almost three hours for all 50,000 or so students from over 100 schools in Oslo to march the route.
The roar of military planes flying in the direction of the Royal Palace (where the King and Queen of Norway reside) signals the start of the parade, led by the mayor of Oslo and the city council. All along the route, onlookers will cheer on the students by blowing whistles, waving flags and shouting cheers. Balloons of every size, shape and color also bob furiously in the air.
The royal family stands on the palace balcony decorated with a big red banner to greet the paraders, many of whom will sing the national anthem (“Yes, We Love This Country”) as they march by the palace, joined by the throngs of crowds around them. Most groups end their parading after passing the palace.
For many children, the day is just beginning as they take kroner (Norwegian money) from their parents to buy ice cream and hot dogs from the vendors lining the streets. Besides eating, children play a popular game called fisketur (fishing), consisting of a fishing pole made of a bucket attached to a pole with string. In this game, children pretend to fish by throwing a bucket behind a sheet, and an adult on the other side of the sheet fills the bucket with small prizes, like chewing gum, erasers and pencils.
During the afternoon, the parades for older children begin. That’s when the high school seniors, or russ as they’re called, celebrate the end of their schooling. They parade through the streets on big colorful buses—painted red, blue or black. The colors stand for the kind of subjects the russ studied. Red (the most popular color) stands for general studies. Blue means finance. Black signifies carpentry and other trades. The russ wear matching overalls, too. Their buses are equipped with booming stereo systems, and they throw russ cards (russekort, in Norwegian) to the younger children. Russ cards are like trading cards. Each student creates his or her own card with a photo, name and slogan on it.
After collecting their cards, the children will head home for family gatherings full of all the usual desserts for the festive day—sour cream porridge with sugar and cinnamon toppings, fruit soup, fresh berries and cream layer cake.
The Best Words Ever is a story about Children's Day in Norway.
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