SCANDINAVIAN FESTIVAL THIS WEEKEND AT CLU

The Annual CLU Scandinavian Festival highlighting the Nordic cultures will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 14, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, April 15  in Thousand Oaks, with music, dancing, food, lectures, demonstrations, vendors and activities for young and old.


Click HERE for the schedule of events for both days

Admission is free for children 11 and under and $7 for everyone else. Parking is free. CLU is located at the corner of Olsen Road and Mountclef Boulevard in Thousand Oaks. Click HERE for directions to CLU.

Click HERE for a Festival Map


Family Events

• Head wreaths: Make a head wreath with real flowers and ribbon! Good for all ages and boys and girls, men and women alike.
• Maypole: We will raise the Maypole and dance around it while singing traditional songs.
• Kubb: Come learn the ancient game of the Vikings. It’s a bit like horseshoes, but without horseshoes or the stake.
• Croquet: Try your hand at hitting the balls through our Dala Horse hoops.
• Festival Stage: Music, singing and dancing will change hourly. On Saturday at 10:30 the Festival will open with a colorful parade of flags, along with dignitaries from the Scandinavian countries. Many will be in Old World costumes.
• Food Court: In the food court, you will find a variety of Scandinavian foods such as Swedish Meatballs, Aebleskivers, Swedish Pancakes, Lefse, Danish Pastries, and more.
• Craft and Food Demonstrations: Ever wondered how to make Krumkake or tried making bobbin lace? Demonstrations will take place on both days.

The festival begins Saturday with an opening ceremony and a colorful parade of Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish and Saami participants in their traditional costumes carrying flags of their Nordic countries. A highlight of the ceremony will be the dedication of a stave church door portal commissioned by the Scandinavian American Cultural and Historical Foundation (SACHF) and created by master woodcarver Phillip Odden. The portal, a scaled copy of the panels on the Borgund Stave Church in Norway, will be set up at the SACHF booth during the festival and on display in the Scandinavian Center after the festival.

The focal point for the festival will be a newly combined entertainment and dining area in Kingsmen Park featuring a stage and booths serving popular Scandinavian delicacies. Forty vendors of Scandinavian handicrafts will sell their wares on the festive Nordic Shopping Avenue.
 
The festival will offer music ranging from rock to Saami “yoik.” The ABBA Girlz will stage their flashy tribute to the famous Swedish group. Also performing will be the duo Jensen and Bugge, accordionist and master fiddler, and singers Deborah and Garth Phillipsen. Västkustens Spelmanslag will perform for open dancing and veteran fiddler Tim Rued will lecture and play a variety of instruments. An old-time Scandinavian dance will be held from 5 to 6 p.m. April 14.
 
CLU students will help kids make head wreaths, trollpuppets, Norwegian fish bags, wooden butter knives and Saami wooden reindeer heads. Adults can try their hands at crafts such as Hardanger and bobbin lace.
 
Also on display at the festival will be two Norwegian longboats built more than 100 years ago. Mr. Thomas, a traditional faering (four-oar) sports boat built in 1875, and Rein, a six-oar fishing boat built in 1905, were built in Norway from the 1,200-year-old Viking boat design used since the beginning of the Viking Age. Actor Robin Williams sailed on Rein in the 1999 movie “What Dreams May Come.”
 
Returning to the festival will be the Ravens of Odin Viking Encampment, and Nathan Muus and his Saami Siiddastallan (community gathering).

For more information, visit http://www.callutheran.edu/scanfest or email Sandra Grunewald at sgrunewa@callutheran.edu.