JC Travels
May 17, 2019
Stavanger  ·  Norway
After the parades — restaurants singing the national anthem
Week 269  ·  Syttende Mai  ·  Stavanger  ·  Constitution Day  ·  Norway

Stavanger
17th of May

JC Travels  ·  my-jc.blog

The 17th of May celebrates Norwegian Constitution Day — Syttende Mai. Starts as a wholesome day with children in parades and everyone dressed formally, but the day ends like Preakness midfield. Women of all ages wore the traditional dress, the bunad, and Sharon spoke with a lady who spent $6,000 on hers while another wore a family heirloom. Most older men wore traditional dress and younger men wore dark blue suits.

Stavanger — The Old Town

Stavanger is an oil town and very nice. Everything was closed except restaurants but it was a great place to be for 17th of May. The old part of the city has two pedestrian areas — one on the east side of the harbour which was commercial while the one on the west side is more historic and goes back to the 1600s.

Background — Syttende Mai & the Norwegian Constitution

Norway's Constitution Day (Syttende Mai — "17th of May") celebrates the signing of the Norwegian Constitution on May 17, 1814 — the day Norway declared independence from Denmark and established its own constitution, one of the most liberal in the world at the time. The day is notable for being celebrated not with military parades but with children's parades (barnetoget) — a deliberate choice to emphasise civilian democracy over military power. The bunad is Norway's national costume, with each region having its own distinct design; a high-quality hand-embroidered bunad can indeed cost NOK 40,000–80,000 (US $4,000–8,000). Stavanger is Norway's fourth-largest city and has been the centre of the Norwegian oil industry since the 1970s, when oil was discovered in the North Sea — making it one of the wealthiest cities per capita in the world.

In front of Breiavatnet — Stavanger 17th of May East side of harbour — you can see how people are dressed up
Stavanger domkirke — oldest cathedral in Norway, dates to 1100 and Viking days West side — more residential and unchanged since 1600s — Stavanger
East of harbour — Stavanger 17th of May Stavanger — 17th of May parade, Constitution Day Norway
Breiavatnet  ·  East side — how people dress  ·  Stavanger domkirke (oldest cathedral in Norway, 1100 AD)  ·  West side unchanged since 1600s  ·  After the parades — restaurants singing the national anthem
The Parade — A Full Disclosure
On the Parades — A Full Disclosure

In person, the parades were awesome and very wholesome. However, in looking at the pictures with the red flags with the blue stripes held at a diagonal and 99% Northern European participation — it does look like a Klan Rally. To be clear: it was NOT a Klan Rally.

It was very respectful — at least before 3pm. Apparently some of the moderation is that 17th of May eve is a big drinking night. So if you ever go to Norway — make sure to go on the 17th of May.

Everyone dresses for the occasion — Stavanger 17th of May We had one that fit in — Stavanger 17th of May
Right after we parked, ran right into the morning parade — mostly elementary schools Flags were easy to come by — Stavanger
Parade finishes at harbour — Stavanger 17th of May Separate end of day parade — after a lot of day drinking
Bird on statue — Stavanger I hear this a lot — at least the part about the hair
Everyone dresses for the occasion  ·  We had one that fit in  ·  Morning parade — mostly elementary schools  ·  Flags easy to come by  ·  Parade finishes at the harbour  ·  End of day parade — after a lot of day drinking  ·  I hear this a lot

"If you ever go to Norway — make sure to go on the 17th of May. Starts wholesome. Ends like Preakness midfield."

StavangerNorway17th of MaySyttende MaiConstitution Day
Week 269  ·  May 17, 2019