Tag: cardiff

Norway’s National Day celebrated in Cardiff

by Kevin Burden, posted in News

We hope you had a wonderful day if you were celebrating Norway’s National Day. Thanks to everyone who joined us in Cardiff. We think there were more than 100 in the procession from the Wales Millennium Centre to the Norwegian Church. Here’s a flavour. Thanks again to the Salvation Army Band for providing music, including ‘Norge i rødt, hvitt og blått’ – Norway in red, white and blue, as seen here today!

The procession was joined by a flag-waving Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Cllr Bablin Molik, who welcomed everyone to the church and to Cardiff. She extended a special welcome to visitors from Norway, including students from Åsane High School from Cardiff’s twin region of Vestland. They had come to Wales especially to set up an exhibition on tourism to the region in the upstairs gallery of the church.

Åsmund Berthelson of Vestland Council remembered the long ties between the two regions. The trade in pit props from Norway and coal from Wales had long been superseded, he said, but trade and educational ties remained, and the bonds between the two countries remained strong.

Tony Olavesen, one of the Welsh Norwegian Society’s new honorary members, recalled the wartime collaboration between the UK and Norway. He laid a wreath to recall those who lost their lives fighting to preserve freedom.

Music was provided indoors by young vocalist Freya, who sang a modern Norwegian tune, ‘Stardust’, and pianist Janet Neilson.

The Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Cllr Bablik Molik, visits the exhibition on tourism to Norway put on by students from Vestland

17th May celebrations confirmed for Cardiff

by Kevin Burden, posted in News

The Welsh Norwegian Society and the Norwegian Church Cardiff Bay have confirmed plans to again mark Norway’s Constitution Day in Cardiff on Friday, 17th May.

The celebrations in Cardiff will begin at 4:45pm with a colourful flag-waving procession from the Wales Millennium Centre to the iconic Norwegian church.

There, the Norwegian flag will be raised and the national anthem sung. Everyone will then be invited inside the church to enjoy music and speeches from representatives from Norway and Wales. 

Norway’s constitution was a declaration of independence signed in 1814 after four centuries of rule by Denmark. At first it was unsuccessful, and Norway fell under Swedish rule. Norway finally won its freedom as a nation in 1905, but in 1940 was invaded and occupied by the Nazis, who banned all displays of national pride, including the 17th May celebrations. Understandably, Norwegians today are fiercely proud of their hard-won independence.

“The 17th May is a day of celebration in Norway with the festivities usually starting with champagne breakfasts and lasting until late into the evening,” explains Bethan Winter of the Welsh Norwegian Society. “The streets are lined with crowds eagerly waving flags and proudly dressed in their colourful and unique national costume, the ‘bunad’. The event is a highlight of the Welsh-Norwegian society’s calendar and we want to bring a flavour of the celebratory mood to Cardiff Bay.” 

Norwegian-style refreshments including waffles and traditional cakes will be on sale at the arts centre café which will be open until the evening.

This year there will also be a small programme of free events at the church on Saturday, 18th May.

  • At 1pm the church historian, Thomas Alexander Husøy-Ciaccia, will give a talk on the history of the Norwegian seamen who travelled to south Wales and the church mission which was set up to support them, resulting in the building of churches in Cardiff, Barry and Swansea.
  • Between 2.30 and 4pm there will be Norwegian-themed arts and crafts activities available for children.
  • Upstairs in the gallery there will also be an exhibition on Vestland county, Cardiff’s twin region in west Norway, curated by Norwegian high school students. 

The Norwegian community in Wales extends a warm velkommen to all.   

New exhibition tells the story of Norwegians in south Wales

by Kevin Burden, posted in News

A new exhibition in Cardiff is telling the story of the Norwegians who came to south Wales in the mid 1800s as seamen and merchants servicing the coal trade. It opened on Norwegian National Day, 17th May, and will run until the end of June 2023. For opening hours, please check the website of the Norwegian Church Arts Centre at https://www.norwegianchurchcardiff.com/

The new exhibition upstairs at the Norwegian Church in Cardiff

At one point there were so many Norwegians in South Wales that the Norwegian Seamen’s Mission established four churches – in Cardiff, Swansea, Barry and Newport – to serve not only as places of worship, but also as community centres, libraries, and providers of welfare and communication for people far from home. 

As the coal trade declined, and congregations became more integrated into Welsh society, the churches closed. However, the buildings in Cardiff and Swansea were preserved, albeit on new sites, and now the Cardiff church is the home of a thriving arts and cultural centre and café. 

Thanks to a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant and with the support of the Norwegian Seamen’s Mission in Bergen, heritage officer Thomas Alexander Husøy-Ciaccia has been tracing the story of the churches in south Wales and their communities, and has curated the new exhibition at the Norwegian church in Cardiff Bay. 

In a new video Thomas tells Kevin Burden of the Welsh Norwegian Society about the churches’ place in the rapid changes in Wales in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Heritage Officer Thomas Husøy-Ciaccia explains the story of Norwegians in south Wales