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17th of May.
The day the whole of Norway go into the streets to celebrate.
Norway's birthday.
The day we got our constitution.
The 17th of May really is a very special day for Norway. I guess you could say it's Norway's version of the Brazilian carnival, only different. In Brazil the big question every year during the carnival is how many people got killed, and if the numbers are higher or lower than last year (the image transmitted by the media to the world only shows part of what carnival is all about). Thinking about it, it is also similar to the Brazilian 7th of September, but different.
It is hard to explain what this day is like. It’s one of those “have to be there” days. And since I hadn’t been in Norway for it since 2000, it was good to be reminded.
At 9 am I got into the car and set off to pick up my brother, who had very kindly agreed to come with me to watch the first parade. As I drove along I saw flags (the Norwegian one, in case you wondered), swaying towards the bright, blue sky. People walking towards the town center were dressed up in national costumes and suits, carrying small flags to wave to friends and acquaintances in the parade. After successfully picking up my brother (I only made one wrong turn, or rather didn’t turn when I should have), we parked the car at the house, and strolled down to the town center. Finding a nice spot we watched as the first parade walked past us. The first parade is in the morning, and it’s where all the schools participate, together with their brass bands. It was lovely, even without knowing anyone in the parade, to watch as the children and adolescents sang their hearts out. And it was lovely to watch some of them getting otherwise distracted by people and the task of marching ahead and not to the sides. Though I don’t know if you would call it marching, it was more like moving forward in a flock for many of them.
Now, some people might think that a day where we celebrate Norway, could end up being a very exclusive celebration, and a very negative experience for people from other countries and cultures. But it’s the complete opposite. I think the 17th of May is the most inclusive day of the year, a day where it doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from, you’re welcome to join the celebration.
After a leisurely lunch at my aunt and uncles, my brother and I drove to his house to catch up with his wife who’d been to work. After some deliberation we decided to head down to the city center of Stavanger (“wait a minute”, I hear some of you ask, “but don’t you live in Stavanger?” No I don’t. I live in a town close to Stavanger called Sandnes) to watch the second parade. The second parade is in the afternoon, and is the opportunity for clubs, societies, and organisations to be seen and creative; e.g. sports-clubs, scouts, gymnastics. After finding a parkingspace quite quickly, we headed down to where the parade was happening. Arriving a tad late, we only got to see the last 10 minutes, which was enough to get the jist of it. We saw some very clever jugglers from the juggling society, and some salsa dancers dancing along.
After the parade had ended, we joined the sea of people, which had filled the city center. Walking around, absorbing the atmosphere, we even caught a parachute show at the lake in the middle of the center. It was really good, although landing in the dirty water did not seem very tempting.
In the early evening I then went along with my brother and sister-in-law to some friends of theirs, and it was a lovely ending to a lovely day.