Scandinavian Festival celebrates 51 years of culture
Children singing and dancing, rows of booths, each filled with unique trinkets and artwork, the smell of pancakes filling the space like a cloud, and hundreds of people were all brought together by the culture of Scandinavia. The two-day Scandinavian Festival, held at California Lutheran University [CLU] on April 5 and 6, brought European festivities of joy to Thousand Oaks. Originally called Scandinavian Day, the first event was held in 1974 in the college gymnasium. 51 years later, the Scandinavian Festival has grown and spread across the CLU campus.
Organized by the Scandinavian American Cultural and Historical Foundation [SACHF], the festival has activities for everyone, including children’s crafts, dancing around the Maypole, food demonstrations and live performances.
Janice Walsh, program director for the Scandinavian Festival, has been part of the event for over 25 years, but only recently joined the SACHF. While the festival is smaller than pre-Covid levels, it has dramatically grown since its re-opening, continuing traditions. As the largest Nordic festival in Southern California, the preparation for the event takes half a year, full of planning and fundraising. “[It took a] lot of volunteers. We hire two coordinators to help us, but it takes 6 months of planning and fundraising by the committee and thousands of volunteer hours,” Walsh said.
While the Scandinavian Festival is the most popular event, the SACHF also puts on a Nordic Symposium every February. Their next event will be about the Iron Age. “We fly in archeologists, professors and experts from Scandinavian countries to present the latest findings and research,” Walsh said.
The festival brought together many different food vendors, each with their own story. Attendees got to try many types of food from the Scandinavian region, including aebleskivers, traditional sausages, crepes and more. One of the food vendors found at the festival was Mor Mor’s Pancake Kitchen, serving Swedish pancakes.
Mor Mor’s Pancake Kitchen was created by Conejo Valley locals, who have been attending the Scandinavian Festival for many years. Organized by Ingrid Slattum, these Swedish pancakes were once again seen at the festival after missing the past few years. With the recipe pinned up on the inside of their tent, Mor Mor’s Pancake Kitchen uses an authentic recipe passed down through generations, straight from Sweden. “‘Mor mor’ in Swedish is ‘mother’s mother,’ so it is the grandma on the mom’s side. And so that was the recipe that our grandma had, and so we still use hers to this day,” Slattum said.
At the festival, many food vendors donated their profits to a charity of their choosing. Mor Mor’s Pancake Kitchen chose to donate to Harbor House, a local social welfare non-profit that helps those in the Conejo Valley who need assistance finding affordable housing. “We used to donate to a scholarship for our uncle, Sven Slattem. He went to CLU and passed away sadly. And so we created a scholarship in his name. But, since then we have given all that we could give, so this year we decided to do something different. And we decided to keep it local,” Slattem said.
From Viking swords to flower crowns, vendors from Southern California came together to display their Scandinavian creations. Attendees had a variety of selections for any and all of the Nordic items that they may want. While not from Scandinavian ancestry, Beth Twogood found herself falling in love with Norwegian rosemaling, a traditional folk art style. Even with her other hobbies of sewing and quilting, rosemaling has stuck with her the most for over 20 years.
Developed in the mid-1700s, rosemaling evolved into different styles from different areas, and Twogood works to capture this in her own artwork. “There is a Gudbrandsdalen style and that area was well known for its wood carving. And so the painting developed to look like the wood carving,” Twogood said.
Twogood first began rosemaling in 2000, when she met a friend and saw it for the first time. Now, Twogood attends various Scandinavian festivals and events, and has been part of the Thousand Oaks Scandinavian Festival for several years. “I taught myself how to do [rosemaling] because there is just something there that calls to me. And I love doing it. I love researching it and finding new patterns. There is just something about it that I think is beautiful,” Twogood said.
Nestled under an oak tree, weavers and spinners displayed their ancient craft to festival goers, showcasing how freshly shorn wool is turned into finished garments. For Robin Portune, spinning yarn has become more than a hobby, as she has joined the Society for Creative Anachronism, a medieval reenactment group, in hopes of perfecting her craft. “[SCA] is people who get together and learn about the different cultures and what they made,” Portune said. “So everything from textiles, fiber arts, metal, working, woodworking, cooking, dancing and brewing.”
Continuing to share the traditional techniques of making these crafts is important to Portune, as she learned them from other medieval enthusiasts. “I think everyone should learn [an ancient skill], and especially people who are younger. That’s how we keep our culture going and how we evolve in the new culture,” Portune said.
The annual Scandinavian Festival at CLU celebrates unique cultural and historical traditions, sharing them with modern audiences. The Kingsmen Park at the heart of the CLU campus welcomed community members, as well as those that travelled for this special event. “The Festival is a great family event with a lot to enjoy for all generations. It is the perfect way to show our culture to everyone,” Walsh said.
