Each year on May 17 Norwegians fill the streets with cheers and flags in celebration of Norway’s constitution, adopted in 1814.
It sometimes happens that foreigners inadvertently walk out of Oslo’s main railway station and stumble into the capital city’s May 17 parade. Either they then join in, or they run for cover and exit the country muttering about total chauvinistic madness.
There may well be an element of madness about Norway’s May 17th celebrations, everything being relative. The event commemorates the Norwegian Constitution, signed at Eidsvoll on May 17 1814. For a country which has spent more than 500 of the last 600 years under foreign domination, most recently the German occupation during World War II, freedom and sovereignty take on a special significance.
The celebrations of May 17 start early in life with the early morning school parades. The tradition when you are a bit older is called “waking up the teacher” in the early morning with the help of fire crackers, bleaters, trumpets and car horns. The climax comes when you get to experience the thrill of being a russ—a post secondary graduate who in the days leading up to May 17 is allowed, if not encouraged, to paint the country red and blue.
As the years roll on you find yourself on the sidewalk watching as your own children march down the streets, waving flags and frantically proclaiming how happy they are to be Norwegian. (This is the part that confuses some visitors to the country, who may inadvertently associate this burst of national pride with other, negative forms of nationalism.)
The People’s Parade, review upon review on television of the King’s Speech of the Day from the Palace balcony, hot dogs by the score and, for many, just generally walking around town, saying hello to everyone, waving their flag and yelling “Congratulations with the Day!” these are also part of the day’s celebrations.
The People’s Parade is a bit like American July 4, Remembrance Day and the Stanley Cup play-offs combined. Grandmothers, young families with baby carriages, military bands, trade union orchestras, trumpet-blaring recent high school graduates, veteran-car parades and the common Norwegian all walk side by side or arm in arm, dressed in their Sunday best and waving their small or large red, white and blue flags. Many wear a ribbon-emblazoned rosette in the national colours. So, whether you are celebrating this day in Norway itself, are participating in a Norwegian community event abroad, or are just curious what all the fuss is about.
Happy May 17th, Norway!
