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MAY 17TH

How Norway’s biggest cities will celebrate May 17th this year

As the big celebrations associated with Norway's national day – May 17th – draw closer, we look at how the country's biggest cities plan to mark the occasion.

Published: 15 May 2023 12:22 CEST
May 17th parade
A May 17th parade in Norway's capital, Oslo. Photo by Gadiel Lazcano on Unsplash

Constitution Day in Norway is a day like no other – Norwegians all over the country take to the street to commemorate the signing of the Norwegian Constitution on May 17th, 1814.

The day is one of the most widely celebrated in Norway, and most cities organise special May 17th programs, festivities, concerts, and a string of other events to mark the day.

READ MORE: May 17th: A guide to how Norway celebrates its national day

The overall mood is festive and cheerful. The streets come alive with parades featuring schoolchildren, marching bands, and community organisations, flags are put on display on most buildings and posts, and Norwegians dress very smartly, often in traditional attire called the bunad, as they take partake in this popular celebration.

According to the May 17th committees in Norway’s largest cities, plans for Syttende Mai (the Seventeenth of May) have mostly been finalised, and now all that’s left is to hope that the weather will be kind to the crowds on Wednesday.

Oslo: Some 110 schools to join the May 17th parade

In Oslo, a key part of the celebration is the children’s May 17th parade. Schoolchildren make their way up Karl Johan Street to the Royal Palace to wave at the royal family. Thousands of people will line Karl Johan Street. The parade will begin in the morning and last into the early afternoon. 

Furthermore, a concert showcasing young Norwegian talents will take place at Akershus Fortress.

The free concert will take place at the Karpedammen stage and bring together talented students from renowned institutions such as Edvard Munch, Foss, Hartvig Nissens, and Oslo cultural schools, alongside other professional musicians.

A highlight of this year’s concert is the presence of Emelie Hollow, a renowned artist. In addition, the Oslo Symphony Orchestra’s 30th consecutive participation adds a touch of elegance to the occasion.

“The planning is going very well. We have 110 schools that will join the children’s parade. Before that, there will be a festive concert with several young talents and Emilie Hollow at the fortress,” Sarah Safavifard, the leader of the May 17th committee in Oslo, told Norwegian newswire NTB.

“There has been a fair amount of work. I have received good help from the committee. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the children’s parade myself. Now, I hope for a sunny celebration with lots of people. May 17th at its best, as we know it,” Safavifard said.

Oslo Municipality has published a brief on its May 17th program on its website.

Bergen: A flag parade and fireworks at Festplassen

Bergen is preparing a traditional May 17th program, with the flag parade, a special air show with aerobatics demonstrations, and fireworks at the Festplassen square.

Liv Cecilie Lycke, head of the May 17th committee in Bergen, has great faith that this year’s celebration of the national day will be in good Bergen tradition.

“You can expect a program that starts at 7am and lasts until 11:30pm. We have lots of activities that will take place in the centre of Bergen. There, there will be a celebration with several old traditions. Much of what we do on our national day are traditions that go back 175 years ago,” Lycke said.

Among other highlights, Lycke pointed to the flag parade, which takes place at 10:40am. In addition, a celebratory salute will be carried out at the Bergenhus Fortress at 12 o’clock, and at 1:30pm, the air show over Vågen/Byfjorden will take place. At the same time, there will be a really good party at Festplassen Square when the national day draws to a close.

“In the evening, we have a big event for young people at Festplassen. Among other things, several artists will perform, so there will be dancing and a good atmosphere. Finally, we’ll end the day with a fireworks display at 11.15 pm,” she said.

You can find more information on the program in Bergen on the Municipality’s website (in Norwegian).

Stavanger

Stavanger is placing its confidence in a traditional May 17th celebration. Photo by Victor Malyushev on Unsplash

Stavanger: Traditional festivities and international culture spotlight

This year, Stavanger is placing its bet on a traditional celebration, with parades taking centre stage as the main attraction of the day, according to Ann Sesilie Tekfeldt, leader of the May 17th committee in Stavanger.

“We are ready and looking forward to the day ahead. There will be a children’s parade, a people’s parade, and a parade of high school pupils in their final spring semester. But, overall, it will be a very traditional celebration,” Tekfeldt said.

“It’s also incredibly fun to meet people and congratulate others on the parade on the day… We also have an international folk festival outside our concert hall in Stavanger. There were a lot of people there last year… So, I’m looking forward to seeing the great international cultural features,” she said.

“It will be very nice to have a holiday on May 17th in Stavanger. There will be a bustling public life around the entire cityscape. If the weather is good, there will be no better places to holiday on May 17th than in Stavanger,” Tekfeldt concluded.

The full Stavanger May 17th program has already been published online.

Tromsø: Hoping for nice weather

Like other major cities, Tromsø is also ready to celebrate May 17th.

Given the often cloudy, rainy, and changeable weather in Norway’s northern region, the local committee hopes for favourable weather conditions for the festivities.

“I hope that we will have pleasant weather. I don’t want to say sunny, but God, how good it would be if it were sunny,” Eva Lockertsen Stenvold, the leader of the May 17th committee in Tromsø, said.

The program for Constitution Day has been set, and the committee leader says several parades will run through Tromsø on Wednesday.

“After I joined the May 17th committee, I discovered a parade that I had never been aware of before – the scout parade, which starts in the morning at 7 o’clock. The parade visits all memorials and monuments in the city and ends its journey at 8.15 am. After that, not many hours are left before the school parade, the children’s parade, and the people’s parade occur. The school parade starts at 11.15 am, the children’s parade leaves at 1.15 pm, and the people’s parade takes place at 4.30 pm. So, there is something for everyone,” Lockertsen Stenvold said.

The full May 17th program can be found on the Municipality’s website (in Norwegian).

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NORWAY EXPLAINED

EXPLAINED: Why so many Norwegians have two surnames

Most Norwegians you will meet will have two surnames, with this tradition dating back hundreds of years. Over time, the reason why Norwegians have two surnames has changed to keep up with the times.

Published: 3 September 2024 14:18 CEST
EXPLAINED: Why so many Norwegians have two surnames

In Norway, as in most countries worldwide, the naming system is a blend of tradition and modernity.

READ MORE: What are locals in Norway’s different regions called?

However, unlike many Western countries, where inherited family names have long been the norm, Norway’s approach to surnames has somewhat unusual roots.

The traditional three-part naming system

Historically, most Norwegians were farmers and did not use inherited family names, according to the Norwegian Interest Group for DNA in Genealogy (NIDNA), a non-profit organisation that promotes DNA as a source and method in genealogical research.

Instead, they followed a three-part naming system.

The first name was the given name of the person.

The second part, known as the patronymic, indicates the father’s first name, such as Sigurdsdatter, meaning “daughter of Sigurd,” or Nilsen, meaning “son of Nils.”

The third part of the name referred to the farm where the person was born or lived. This farm name served as a form of address and would change if the person moved to a different farm.

In this traditional system, neither the patronymic nor the farm name were inherited family names.

What changed between the 19th and 20th centuries?

A whole lot.

Before 1850, most Norwegians adhered to the traditional naming system outlined above.

However, between the mid-19th century and the early 1920s, there was a gradual shift towards using inherited surnames, especially in urban areas.

This change was formalised with the Norwegian Names Act of 1923, which required everyone to have a surname, as the The Genealogy Society of Norway – the largest of its kind in Norway – writes on its website.

Typically, Norwegians in cities chose patronymics as their surnames, while families from rural areas often opted for their farm names.

Norwegian surnames today

Just several generations ago, names often changed when people moved.

A person might have a patronymic and a farm name, such as Jon Persson Haugen, which would change to Jon Persson Skaar if he moved from the Haugen farm to the Skaar farm.

This practice was relatively common until the turn of the 20th century, when fixed European-style surnames became mandatory, mainly for census purposes but also due to streamlined tax and hospital payments, as name expert and researcher Ivar Utne told ung.forskning.no in a recent interview.

A few years back, around 70 percent of Norwegian surnames were derived from farm names, such as Ås, Li, and Hagen, while around 30 percent are solidified patronymics, like Olsen, Larsen, Hansen, and Johansen, according to the NIDNA.

As of 2018, Hansen, Johansen, and Olsen remained the three most common surnames in Norway, with about 150,000 people bearing these names. However, as more Norwegians choose unique surnames, the traditional practice of using a father’s first name as a surname – a patronymic – is gradually fading.

Figures from national data agency Statistics Norway (SSB) reveal a long-term decline in the prevalence of surnames ending in -sen.

A 2021 SSB report highlighted this trend, noting that the proportion of such surnames in the population had dropped to 19.6 percent. 

The rise of two surnames

According to the Norwegian Names Act (Navneloven), every person is required to have a first name and either a single or double surname, with the option to include a middle name as well.

In recent decades, it has become increasingly common for Norwegians to use two surnames, reflecting both the mother’s and the father’s surnames.

This trend aligns with broader societal changes in the country, where married couples often retain their birth surnames.

In Norway, a middle name is usually a surname, not an additional given name.

For instance, if a child’s legal name is Kristian Olaf Rutten Carlsen, “Rutten” could be the middle name, and “Carlsen” the surname.

First names are given names, like Ivar or Sven Kristian.

Wondering why some child names are banned in Norway? Make sure to read our explainer on the topic.

You can find last year’s overview of the most popular baby names in Norway here.

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