Syttende Mai (17th May) - Norwegian Constitution Day

Yesterday was the 17th of May, usually an average day for me. In Norway, it is the biggest day of the year because it is the day that Norwegians celebrate being Norwegian. And they do it properly!  Now, I've always thought of myself as a somewhat patriotic person. I am proud to be a South African, I support our sports teams when given the chance, and I follow politics and care deeply for the future of the country, however Norwegians take national pride to a level I've never seen before. People prepare for weeks for the 17th May, there are people out tidying the streets and houses during the week before, and every city in Norway has its own celebration. In Oslo, the parades snake their way past the royal palace where the king and royal family spend the day waving to the participants. Here in Tromsø, the suburbs outside the city centre are almost as empty as the main road in an amish town on a Sunday morning. Almost the entire population turns out in the city centre to watch or participate in the three parades and various other activities that take place throughout the day. Most of these activities include consumption of food... including sweets, candy floss, ice cream and hot dogs.

Luckily, I was forewarned to get myself a flag and to make sure that if I was going into the city centre, to dress nicely. I woke up yesterday morning and it was as if someone had dropped a red, white, and blue colour bomb on the city. Flags decorate everything; houses, cars, people, buses, even some trees, and red, white, and blue flowers magically appeared overnight at the bus stop near my house.

Flags on cars

Red, white and blue flowers at the bus stop

People dress smartly (mostly in red, white, or blue, or some combination thereof), or in national dress (called Bunad), and walk around saying "Hurra" and "Gratuler med dagen". The first time I saw someone in national dress,  I thought I'd been transported back in time several hundred years. It's a strange sight to see people dressed as if they are living in the 18th or 19th centuries on a bus, or driving cars, or wearing ray-bans.  The national dress seems an important part of the day, and most women, and some men choose to wear it. 

The women's dress consists of detailed white shirts worn under heavy wool dresses in different colours and/or patterns (depending on the region they're from), many with embroidered detailing, and accented with some of the most intricate and beautiful silverware (sølje) I've ever seen. I also saw some outfits including aprons and shawls. I noticed some men's dress consists of a white shirt, detailed waist coat and jacket, knee length pants, and knee high woolen socks with tassels on them.  Many men also just wear suits with red, white, or blue ties. I am told that people also sometimes wear the national dress to occasions such as weddings and graduations. I also saw Sami (a group of people who speak a different language and come from the northern-most part of Norway) costume, which is really really brightly coloured and includes significantly more shiny stuff. 

Examples of the national dress

The three parades throughout the day seem to be the main events, with a children's parade in the morning (most traditional), a parade of the russ (final year school students, who have been partying, drinking, and generally causing trouble in the city since 1 May!) in the middle of the day, and then a parade of all clubs/sports/groups in Tromsø in the afternoon. I managed to make it into the city to watch the childrens' and the afternoon parades. Both were equally amazing. The children's parade includes all school children, many wearing national dress, and each school marching in its own group, some groups singing, some waving flags, some chanting (in Norwegian, so I don't know what they were chanting). Brass bands and groups of drum majorettes march interspersed among the groups of school children. It's all very noisy, and slightly chaotic.

The afternoon parade seems to consist of any club/sport/group that resides in Tromsø, from the swing dancing society, to the small dog society, to the red cross, and every sport under the sun. Which means some pretty amazing and hilarious sights walk by. There are also even more brass bands and majorettes.  

Photographs of the groups in the afternoon parade

Overall the day was a fascinating experience of Norwegian culture, and an amazing demonstration of community. I'll leave you with my favourite sight, which was this:

A large dog pulling a carriage containing a small dog