Learn about the top five most important dates in Norway
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| Jasmine: Hi everyone, I´m Jasmine. |
| Filip: And I´m Filip |
| Jasmine: And welcome back to the All About series. All About lesson 9: Top 5 Dates During the Norwegian Calendar Year. What are we going to be talking about today? |
| Filip: The top five most important holidays in Norway. |
| Jasmine: How are we going to choose among so many? |
| Filip: Hah, very funny. Norway doesn't have that many holidays. |
| Braden: Well, a few at least! |
| Filip: And there are some that are more prominent than others. |
| Jasmine: Well then, let's get to it! |
| Filip: We'll go in reverse order… |
| Jasmine: Number five… |
| Filip: The fifth most important day in Norway is "Halloween." |
| Jasmine: Halloween is celebrated on October 31st. |
| Filip: It wasn't so popular in Norway some years back and only recently has gained somewhat national status as a holiday. |
| Jasmine: Children dress up in scary costumes and do "trick or treat," just like in other parts of the world. |
| Filip: The celebration has recently replaced other dress-up occasions like "carnival" and "yulegoat." However, the real tradition stems from "All Saints Day" around the first Sunday of November. |
| Jasmine: More conservative people like to celebrate on that date instead of the 31st and the celebration is usually a bit different, without all the dressing up. |
| Filip: There are those who don't celebrate Halloween at all still. These people leave their house lights off during the evening so nobody will come to their door. It's a nice way of saying "I don't want visitors." |
| Jasmine: Number four… |
| Filip: The fourth most important day in Norway is "Påske" ("Easter"). |
| Braden: This is not as much a day as it is a whole week of vacation. Nonetheless, it is a very celebrated week. |
| Filip: Although Easter is a Jewish and Christian tradition, the holiday has become part of Norwegian tradition and is celebrated by Christians and non-Christians alike. |
| Jasmine: Companies and schools have a week of vacation where most families tend to go skiing in the mountains of Norway. Spring has just come to Norway and so the last chance for skiing is during that week. |
| Filip: The religious aspect of Easter is slowly disappearing while it has become a more commercial holiday. |
| Jasmine: Yes, there are especially two foods with direct connection to Easter. One is the orange and two, "Kvikk Lunsj," A branded "chocolate crunch bar." |
| Filip: Even so, Easter is an important holiday for Norwegians which lets them release the stress gathered through the winter months. |
| Filip: Number three… |
| Jasmine: The third most important day in Norway is "Nyttår" ("New Year"). |
| Filip: "Nyttår" is celebrated in Norway much the same way it is in the rest of Europe, with spectacular fireworks and a large dinner. |
| Jasmine: When saying "Nyttår," Norwegians refer mostly to the New Year’s Eve and not the following day. Since there is no event on the first day of the New Year. |
| Filip: Well, except for maybe a nice breakfast with the family. |
| Jasmine: New Year is just as commercial as Easter and people buy their own fireworks to fire up in their back yards. |
| Filip: Yes, and compared with Easter this is not so much a family holiday as it is celebrating with whoever is around you. |
| Jasmine:So, number two… |
| Filip: The second most important day in Norway is "Julaften" ("Christmas Eve"). |
| Jasmine: As with other countries with a Christian background, Norway also celebrates Christmas. |
| Filip: While it is again not so much the one Christmas Eve, Christmas is the one month leading up to and after the 24th. |
| Jasmine: That's right. Christmas in Norway is celebrated on the eve of the 24th and while most other countries have the tradition of having a nice Christmas dinner on the 24th, in Norway they also open up presents on that same evening. |
| Filip: Yes, after a cozy dinner with the family, we gather around the tree while having dessert and start opening presents. It has nothing to do with impatience. Rather, we like to catch the magical moment that is Christmas Eve. |
| Jasmine: The following morning on the 25th the family gathers around for a real breakfast, a.k.a. "Koldtbord" ("Smorgasbord"). And Christians go to church that day. |
| Filip: Yes, but that doesn’t mean that only Christians celebrate Christmas. The old tradition, called Yule, had been in Norway long before Christianity came to Norway. The name has remained, so Christmas is also called "Jul." |
| Jasmine: And as with Easter this holiday has become highly commercialized, losing most of its religious aspect. |
| Filip: And number one… |
| Jasmine: The most important day in Norway is..."17. mai" ("17th of May"). |
| Filip: The 17th of May is Norway’s National Holiday or Day of Liberation. |
| Jasmine: It is THE most celebrated holiday in Norway. |
| Filip: On this day one can see thousands of people marching the streets in long processions carrying the Norwegian flag and singing the national anthems. |
| Jasmine: The Royal Family can be seen at one point of the day waving "Happy birthday" to all Norwegians from their balcony at the Royal Palace. |
| Filip: No matter the nationality or religion of the person, the 17th of May is a day everybody living in Norway can celebrate. |
| Jasmine: No wonder I saw a lot of youth dressed in red or blue uniforms on that day. |
| Filip: Oh, yeah. That's all the high school graduates celebrating their last day of obligatory education. You should watch out. They carry around water guns and are usually quite the jesters. |
| Jasmine: So, with that, we've covered the five most important holidays in Norway. |
| Filip: We hope you have the chance to visit Norway during one of these holidays so that you can experience it for yourself! |
| Jasmine: Join us next time for more information on Norway and Norwegian at NorwegianClass101.com! See you then! |
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