Scandinavian Festival

Mayor John Banks will be on hand to officially open the Scandinavian Festival 2009. It’s being held at Alexandra Park Function Centre, Greenlane from Friday March 27 to Sunday March 29, with the official opening at 10am on Saturday March 28.

A Scandinavian Gathering takes place every second year somewhere in New Zealand. This year, it’s being promoted as the “Scandinavian Festival” and organisers have worked hard to deliver a family-friendly event with children’s play areas and games on the lawn.

The Auckland Norsemen, stars of the 2006 Volvo Vikings exhibition at the Auckland Museum, will be on hand for the whole weekend demonstrating Viking life and crafts, and there will be lots of other art and craft stalls selling items that showcase the fabulous style Scandinavians are renowned for.

Highly respected Danish folk music band Faerd start their international tour at the Festival, and they and the wonderful Melbourne Scandinavian Choir will perform throughout the weekend. Introductory language classes will be offered, the spread of Viking culture and the Icelandic sagas that trace their myths and legends will be discussed as will the films of Ingmar Bergman and Lars von Trier, plus the story of how Scandinavians (especially Swedes and Norwegians) developed New Zealand infrastructure. These and more seminars and workshops need to be booked in advance – go to www.scandinavianfestival.org.nz to check out the full programme and to download the registration form.

There are many Kiwis of Scandinavian descent who will be interested to see something of their heritage, but it is also an opportunity for every Aucklander to learn a little more about the five main Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden) and the autonomous territories Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Åland.

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