POULSBO — Jacquie Brown, Miss Washington 2010 and third runner-up for Miss America 2011, will be grand marshal of the 2011 Viking Fest Parade, May 21.

Viking Fest begins May 20 at 4 p.m. with opening ceremonies at Kvelstad Pavilion, at Muriel Iverson Williams Waterfront Park. It continues May 21 and 22 with a carnival, contests, games, and live entertainment.

The parade will begin in downtown Poulsbo at 2 p.m. May 21.

Viking Fest is held each year to celebrate Norway’s Constitution Day; the constitution, adopted May 17, 1814, was a national symbol in the struggle for Norwegian independence, which was achieved in 1905 and severely tested in World War II. Poulsbo’s early non-indigenous population was composed largely of Norwegians who came here on a wave of entrepreneurism; they were followed by fellow expatriates seeking refuge from a Europe torn asunder by war.

Brown is a graduate of Evergreen High School in Vancouver and is pursing a bachelor’s degree in communications/broadcasting at Clark College, Vancouver. Her Poulsbo appearance is sponsored by Ken Perry and his firm, Team Innovative Services, Inc., Silverdale. Team Innovative provides professional residential and commercial landscaping and cleaning services.

Youth mentoring — having a hand in changing a child’s life — is her passion, she said, noting that she “would not be where I am today were it not for the people who gave of their time to mentor me.”

She is a spokesperson for Camp Mariposa, which was created and funded by The Moyer Foundation as a first-of-its-kind program to help meet the needs of children and teens facing the difficult challenges associated with an addicted or co-dependent family member.

Brown has reportedly expressed a desire to taste lutefisk with Miss Viking Fest Kelsey Moss and her court on May 22 as the prelude to the annual Lutefisk Eating Contest at 2 p.m.

(See the May 20 Kitsap Week for a guide to the weekend’s Viking Fest and Armed Forces Day activities.)