17 May

A fortnight ago the Norwegians celebrated their national day, or Constitution Day.  The reason for the celebrations is that the Norwegian Constitution was signed on 17 May 1814.  Unfortunately, during the nineteenth century, the Swedish King forbade the celebration as it was seen as a protest against Swedish rule.  However, the Norwegians persisted, and by 1864, it was popular to organise parades through what was then called Christiania (now Oslo).  The parades consisted of groups of schoolchildren (boys only until 1899) walking through the city. 

The tradition of celebrating Constitution Day was strengthened following the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905, and the German surrender in 1945.  Somewhere along the way, the focus of the celebration was altered slightly from the signing of the constitution, to the royal family.

Today, the tradition of the parade continues throughout Norway.  In Oslo city centre, around 100 schools and marching bands parade before the royal family.  This parade is called a Barnatoget (literally ‘child train’).  The parade ends with the singing of both the National and Royal anthems.  After the parade, activities are organised for children in the city centre.

It is not only the young children who get involved in the 17 May parade and celebrations.  This day also sees the end of the ‘Russetiden’, a time of hard partying and celebration for the annual ‘Russen’ –young Norwegian school-goers in the middle of the equivalent of the Leaving Certificate. 

The partying starts towards the end of April and continues for over three weeks.  Parties and events are organised every single night.  Usually, a group of Russen club together to buy a bus, which they paint and decorate as part of a competition.  They hire a driver for the three weeks to drive them from party to party, where there can be literally thousands of other Russen going wild for the night.  During these three weeks, an important tranche of the continuous assessment for the year has to be submitted.  (We thought partying after the Leaving Cert results was wild!!) 

Russen wear distinctive clothes (a blue boiler suit for the two-year cycle, and a red boiler suit for the three year cycle).  These boiler suits contain a special pouch for the wearer’s identity card with home address details etc.  I’ve been informed that this is useful in case of an accident – i.e. if found, please return to…

Russen also take part in the parade on this last day of the celebration, although they are usually seen lying crashed out on the grass somewhere during the day, or being hounded by little children who collect their Russekorten – personalised ‘business cards’ which Norwegian children are crazy about.

Another fabulous element of the 17 May celebrations is the wearing of the Bunad or traditional Norwegian dress.  This is something you would not see in Ireland – and I’d swap it for those hideous leprachaun outfits any day.  The Bunad is worn at weddings, confirmations, Christmas and other traditional occasions.

Norwegian children normally receive a Bunad as a gift to celebrate their confirmation.  It is an extremely expensive output, costing around 4,000 Euro and upwards, and is seen as something of a status symbol.  On the upside, it’s totally handmade and embroidered and consists of fabulous material, and usually some jewellery.

Each area in Norway has its own traditional Bunad.  The range of outfits, colours and patterns is quite large.  Interestingly, it is local councils and committees that decide on the traditional Bunad for their area, i.e. in most cases, it may not be the most popular form of dress in that area.  The following website shows many different kinds of bunad: http://www.norskflid.no/bunad/bunader/

There is a debate in Norway about which Bunad it is appropriate to wear – i.e. should you wear one from the area you are from, or the area you live in.  Luckily, an institution, the Norsk Institute for Bunad of Folkedrakt, has been set up to answer these, and other burning questions, about the Bunad.  http://www.bunadraadet.no/index.php?parent=0&groupid=8&sidetittel=Bunad