If you are visiting Poulsbo today for your first or your 99th Viking Fest, Velkommen to our annual celebration of Norwegian Constitution Day.

It is our pleasure to have you, and 40,000 more visitors as our guests this weekend for fun from dawn to dark. You can share pancakes with Vikings in the morning, ride the rides, parade, singing, dancing, enjoy the carnival, water skiers–and have fun meeting a whole town that celebrates a Norwegian heritage year round–not just for a weekend.

Like most very special events in your life, Viking Fest isn’t created by a corporate theme park designer, or a multi-million dollar “Super Bowl” event organizer. This is a homegrown party. Volunteers formed a corporation more than 35 years ago to coordinate this festival.

Like any other party, somebody has to organize everything, prepare the food, invite the guests, arrange for the entertainment, and clean it all up after it’s over. (Any profits that are made go to a scholarship fund for local youngsters who are overlooked by other scholarship providers.)

Who does all that work? Volunteers, all of them unpaid.

Many of the behind-the-scenes workers are lifelong members of the Sons of Norway. If you get a chance, stop in the Lodge building on Front Street for an authentic Scandinavian lunch and tell them thanks for all their efforts. They also have a booth on the parkway selling Norwegian delights.

Many people over the years have come to visit Poulsbo during Viking Fest, come back for a longer visit, then later chose this community for their permanent home.

Whether you’re here for an afternoon, a weekend or a lifetime–Velkommen to Viking Fest.