The heritage team at the Norwegian Church Arts Centre invite the members of the Welsh Norwegian Society to attend its upcoming heritage conference.
On April 9th, we are organising part two of a conference event for our heritage project. The first part took place in November with the theme “South Wales Port Communities: Heritage and History.” It will now be followed by the event “The Diverse Religious and Cultural Heritage of Wales.” The event is co-organised with Cardiff University and Llafur.
Your committee met and agreed the following dates for 2024. Note that some events take place on a Saturday, and others on a Sunday, to ensure meetings are available to people who have regular commitments on one or other day. Dates and times are always subject to change, so please check in here or on our Facebook page for the latest information about each event.
Sunday 24 March
We welcome former society chair Tyra Oseng-Rees who will tell us about her business making art and architectural pieces from recycled glass. Tyra made the memorial plaque to Karen Allen that now hangs in the gallery.
Saturday 20 April
It’s been suggested that we meet at the Norwegian-run Emmeline’s tea room in Abergavenny: emmelinestearoom.com
If there is sufficient interest we will book a room, if not we can takes our chances in the café. Let us know if you’d like to reserve a place!
Friday 17 May – Norwegian National Day, of course.
We will hold the usual procession from the Millennium Centre to the Church, with music, a service and speeches inside.
Saturday 8 June
Once again, we’ve kindly been offered the use of a family garden in south-west Gower for a summer barbeque and party. This was well attended and much enjoyed last year, despite an extended dry spell putting paid to our plans for a bonfire.
We are very keen to gauge interest of members in attending an event this year, as there are both costs and effort involved in putting it on, which the committee will gladly do if there is sufficient demand for it. We make a small charge per head to cover the cost of firewood, light refreshments and insurance. It is possible to camp onsite or, of course, in many other locations nearby. Please let us know at contact@welshnorwegian.org, on Facebook or via any member of the committee if you’d like to attend or perhaps even help with the organising.
July, August – no planned events.
Sunday 22 September
Our Annual General Meeting.
Saturday 19 October – a ‘show and tell’ of the bunad, the Norwegian national dress which varies according to the locality. All who have their own dress are invited to drag them out of the wardrobe and come dressed up and show off!
Saturday 23 November – decorating the Christmas tree in the church hall.
Sunday 1 December
Come and celebrate Christmas at our annual Festival of Light and Friendship.
We look forward to meeting you at one or all of our socials. If you have any requests, suggestions or comments, please share them with us. We are always looking for new ideas and new excuses to celebrate!
Our next social gathering on Sunday 26 February will be especially suitable for families. We’ll be marking fastelavn – “the Nordic tradition you’ve probably never heard of,” according to one blogger – with two traditions that are typical of northern Europe, but almost unknown here.
Fastelavn is the eve of lent, and is a Protestant festival celebrated across northern Europe, including Scandinavia, Finland, Estonia and Germany. Scots know it as Fastens-een. It’s related to carnivals marked at this time of year in Catholic countries, and Shrove Tuesday – pancake day – in the UK. Strangely, it is celebrated on different days in the Scandinavian nations: this year it will be celebrated in Norway on 19 February.
The festival is celebrated differently between the countries and even between regions. We will be adopting two practices this year: eating fastelavnsboller and making Shrovetide rods or sticks – with which children are supposed to beat their parents to wake them on Fastelavns Sunday, though we will not necessarily be following this custom!
Fastelavnsboller are Shrovetide buns – sweet rolls with a filling, typically cream, jam or stewed fruit, and usually iced. There has been lively debate among members of the Welsh Norwegian Society about the right combination of filling and icing – this is very much comes down to family and local custom. There’s a Norwegian recipe here.
The Shrovetide rods are birch twigs decorated with feathers, or sometimes strips of paper, sweets, figurines and even eggshells. Apparently, particularly pious people used to lightly flog their children on Good Friday to remind them of the sufferings of Christ on the cross. In return, children won the right to flog their parents on Fastelavns Sunday – and were rewarded with a sweet bun. Today, children in Denmark sing a special song to demand their reward:
Shrovetide is my name,
buns I want.
If I get no buns,
then I make trouble.
Buns up, buns down
buns in my tummy.
If I get no buns,
then I make trouble.
Come and join us at the Norwegian Church in Cardiff on Sunday 26 February from 2.30 pm for buns, Shrovetide rod-making, fun, company and chatter.
Welsh Norwegian Society 