Horned-hat plunderers invaded Bay Ridge’s Owl’s Head Park for Viking Fest on Saturday, followed by Sunday’s Norwegian Day Parade as part of the nabe’s annual celebration of its Scandinavian heritage.
Saturday’s inclement weather was not enough to dampen the spirits of revelers at Viking Fest, which included Scandinavian art, medieval weapons demonstrations, traditional music, and live reenactments.
Viking Fest enthusiasts huddled under umbrellas to watch armor-clad Vikings jousting each other with grunts and groans, while as Bay Ridge’s very-own folk musician “Eclectic Ellen” Lindstromon played her Scandinavian tunes on her squeeze box accordion.
“I love being at Viking Fest, I don’t care that it’s raining. The reenactments were great, the jousting was fabulous, the music was great,” said one attendee. “I got to meet a lot of great people, and learn a lot about Norwegian history.”
Sunday’s Norwegian Day parade, held to commemorate the signage of the country’s constitution on May 17, 1814, saw red white and blue flags peppered across the nabe with locals dressing up in their best bunads — a Scandinavian term for traditional garb.
Aside from a two-year hiatus during the pandemic, the Norwegian Immigration Association has held a 17th of May Parade yearly since 1952 on the Sunday closest to the name-sake date.
The holiday also doubles as a celebration of the area’s history given much of the borough was settled by Norwegian immigrants during the 1800s.
