Hot dogs, ice cream, fireworks, parades, boats. It sounds like a fun Fourth of July, right? Actually, that’s what I experienced on May 17th when I arrived in Bergen, Norway. May 17th is Constitution Day in Norway, and I was lucky enough to arrive early in Norway with two other people on the DOC to experience this day of celebration.
On the 17th, we woke up at 7:45 am because of the early morning parade going by our hotel room. We caught our first glimpse of the clothes, music, and traditions that would be present throughout Bergen. Despite our jet lag, we were excited to begin experiencing the day’s celebrations.
After eating a delicious Norwegian breakfast filled with fish, eggs, and bread, we left our hotel room in search of a good vantage point for the parades of the day. Somehow, we found front row spots, and soon after, we heard drums beating in the distance that indicated the approaching procession. Soon, crowds of children began marching through the streets. Some were holding toy crossbows with Norwegian flags sticking out the end, others were holding signs to represent the school they go to, and others were marching in unison to the instructions of older children. As the groups of children went by, the crowds cheered and often shouted, “Gratulerer med dagen Bergen.” We weren’t sure what this meant and were too focused on the parade to use Google Translate, but we asked some locals around us what they were saying. They told us that they were shouting “Happy Birthday Bergen,” since Constitution Day represents the day that Norway became independent. They asked us how we were enjoying the day and told us that they were especially excited to celebrate this year because COVID-19 severely altered the celebrations of 2020 and 2021. So, the atmosphere during this year’s celebration was palpable – people were genuinely proud to be Norwegian and wanted to celebrate their pride. Their joy was contagious, and my friends & I were continuously smiling & happy in the 8th happiest country in the world!
After the children’s parade concluded, another parade began, and this one was focused on the groups/organizations in Bergen. For example, there were bands, dance troupes, and senior organizations. It was exciting to see how creative people got with representing their organizations – there was even a group of people making hot dogs on a rolling cart and handing them out to the crowd.
There was an additional parade with the local graduating high schoolers. They were all wearing jumpsuits of either red, blue, black, or green, and we had noticed people wearing these jumpsuits a day prior. We were baffled, so once again, we summoned up the courage to ask a group of them why they were wearing the jumpsuits. They told us that they were about to graduate from high school and that the color of their jumpsuits represented the type of higher education they would be pursuing (for example, black meant engineering). It was interesting to see their school pride and happiness that they were graduating, particularly because my graduation celebrations were canceled in 2020 due to covid.
I want to make a note about Constitution Day that my friends and I didn’t know that it’s a time for formal dress. All of the local women were wearing bunads, beautiful traditional Norwegian dresses, and all of the local men were wearing suits & ties. The few remaining people were wearing nice clothes. So, my friends & I looked a bit out of place in jeans and regular shirts. So, my advice for foreigners visiting Norway on Constitution Day is to bring some nice clothes, or else it’s very obvious that you’re a tourist.
After the parades ended, my friends & I went to the port to watch the many boats out on the water, and after that, we ate a traditional Norwegian combination of hot dogs & ice cream. We also watched a group of people participate in Norwegian dancing, which was fun to watch. Then, we walked a bit outside of the central part of the city up to the University of Bergen campus because the streets were extremely crowded in the central part of town. It was fun to walk around the University of Bergen campus because we saw students our age celebrating together. In addition, we saw many portable grills where people were making even more hot dogs!
Later, when we went back to our hotel after dinner, we heard loud music coming from the park next to us. We went outside to check it out, and there was a fake Viking ship with a DJ on it that was playing the music. A big group of Norwegian people around our age danced in the plaza, and we went and joined them! We had an absolute blast dancing to the mix of 2000s pop songs and Norwegian music that the DJ was playing, and we got to connect to the locals our age without having a language barrier. After the dance party, we got to see a beautiful fireworks display at 11:15 pm. Why were the fireworks so late? The sunsets here at around 10:30 pm, so the fireworks needed to be done after the sun had set!
We were exhausted after the fireworks show and went to bed shortly afterward, but I am so happy that I was able to experience Constitution Day in Norway. It was fascinating to experience another culture’s celebrations and compare them to my own experiences in America. I’ve only been in Norway for a couple of days, and I already feel that I have learned so much about how people live in other parts of the world. I’m extremely excited for the rest of my DOC, and I can’t wait to share some of my experiences on this blog.
