Norsk Høstfest
Minot, North Dakota
By Nicole Thom-Arens
Published in 2023
Each fall, Scandinavian traditions come alive at the State Fair Center in Minot, North Dakota, thanks to the Norsk Høstfest. The festival, founded in 1978 by Chester Reiten, is now the largest in North America to celebrate Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. Year after year, volunteers come together to welcome tens of thousands of people from around the world who travel to Minot for the event.
Every space at the fairgrounds is utilized to bring in as many authentic cultural experiences as possible, including clothing, jewelry, crafts, furniture, food vendors and Scandinavian chefs, entertainers, and Viking performers. Vikings also line the hallways, along with trolls, in various forms—wooden and in costume—while the sounds of free entertainment (musicians, comedians, and dancers) spill out from the numerous halls. When we lived in Minot from 2012 to 2019, Høstfest was one of our favorite things, and I started looking forward to the event weeks before its arrival—when the mornings turn cool and fall was just beginning to stir. Liam always loved seeing the Viking demonstrations. In the crisp late-September afternoons, we gathered on the grassy space outside the festival halls to watch the mock battles and learn about the armor and weapons that would have been used by Vikings hundreds of years ago.
Every space at the fairgrounds is utilized to bring in as many authentic cultural experiences as possible, including clothing, jewelry, crafts, furniture, food vendors and Scandinavian chefs, entertainers, and Viking performers. Vikings also line the hallways, along with trolls, in various forms—wooden and in costume—while the sounds of free entertainment (musicians, comedians, and dancers) spill out from the numerous halls. When we lived in Minot from 2012 to 2019, Høstfest was one of our favorite things, and I started looking forward to the event weeks before its arrival—when the mornings turn cool and fall was just beginning to stir. Liam always loved seeing the Viking demonstrations. In the crisp late-September afternoons, we gathered on the grassy space outside the festival halls to watch the mock battles and learn about the armor and weapons that would have been used by Vikings hundreds of years ago.
Inside, we wandered from hall to hall taking in the sights and sounds of the festival. We browsed crafts and handmade goods from a variety of vendors and enjoyed traditional Nordic treats like warm rice pudding and aebleskiver. We watched a woodturner create beautiful decorative trees from a block of wood, learned how a craftswoman spent the entire year making delicate wooden Christmas tree ornaments featuring Viking ships and gnomes holding each Nordic country’s flag, and we tried on boiled wool hats made by a woman from the Baltics. Learning the stories behind these products makes them more than items of clothing or decorative pieces on our mantel—they become special parts of our own stories.
Høstfest itself is special because of the people it brings together. One year, I learned from a Norwegian paramedic Hage, who lived two hours north of Tromso, that some days she had to take a helicopter to work—what an unimaginable commute! Hage also told me about the “Green Lady,” the northern lights, and the blue hour visible in December when there is hardly any light, but the light that shines casts a blue hue. In our short conversation, Hage taught me how to look for the beauty in the darkest, coldest winter days—on winter nights, I look opposite the sunset to catch a glimpse of the special light I imagine Hage sees in northern Norway.
It was at Høstfest that I bought my very first book about hygge and I learned of the Norwegian tradition of packing chocolate and oranges on cross-country ski trips or winter hikes. While Høstfest is opportunity to connect with the past, celebrate Scandinavian-American traditions, and hear accordion music and dance the polka, it is, most importantly, a place where we can learn from others. Høstfest is a place to discover new outlooks, perspectives, and ways of life if you mingle with the artists, vendors, demonstrators, and chefs who travel all the way to Minot to share in a celebration of Scandinavia.
It isn’t often in North Dakota we have the opportunity to welcome people from around the world and have the ability to sit with them and discover how we are the same but also different and learn from those differences. No matter if you travel near or far to celebrate Norsk Høstfest and the community it unites at North America’s largest Scandinavian festival, it’s worth the journey. I hope to see you there—skål!