Spectators watch a Viking demonstration during the 2024 Norsk Hostfest. Photo from Norsk Hostfest. Submitted Photo

The annual celebration of Scandinavian culture each fall in Minot will be extra special this year with the observance of the 200th anniversary of organized emigration from Norway and the 200 years since the birth of Sondre Norheim, the father of modern skiing.

Norsk Hostfest is scheduled for Sept. 24-27 at the North Dakota State Fair Center.

Hostfest Executive Director Searle Swedlund said the festival launched in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Oct. 9, 1825, landing of the Restauration in New York. The ship set sail from Stavanger, Norway, with a crew of seven and 45 passengers. A baby was born en route.

“As we visit with our exhibitors and entertainers, we really want to share the nature of how Norwegian immigrants came here to settle, and how that is the auspices of why a Hostfest began,” Swedlund said.

The Hostfest also has long remembered Norheim, who settled in McHenry County, exchanging mountains for the prairie of North Dakota. Thor Gotaas, an acclaimed Norwegian cultural historian and author, has been commissioned to write a book about Norheim’s life. A competitive skier, Norheim invented a ski binding that enabled him to develop new turning techniques. He died in 1897 and is buried in McHenry County.

“Those are really the things that we know, as we eye the year ahead, we really want to work to make sure we make special and unique,” Swedlund said of those 200-year events.

Norsk Hostfest also will offer the traditional cultural fare that attracts thousands of people each year.

“People can expect the unique vendors, the side stage entertainment, the Great Hall acts, the food – the elements of Hostfest that people understand and love. They will continue to be at the core of the festival,”Swedlund said.

He described the festival as “an authentically unique celebration of Scandinavian cultures, where the North Dakota State Fair Center is transformed, and the smells, sounds and sensations are all captivated through our cultural heritage.”

Walking in the Fair Center transports visitors to a different time and place, and Swedlund credits the atmosphere to the leadership of Chester Reiten, former Hostfest president, and his family who carried his dream for the festival, as well as former and long-time executive director Pam Davy.

The Minot community also has gained stronger ties to heritage because of Hostfest, he said.

“It has embraced this Scandinavian event, its culture, and really thought about how it shapes its narrative and its pride in those elements and its day to day life,” he said.

It is noticeable in activities and cultural celebrations that occur outside of Hostfest and complement the nature of what Hostfest has been about, he said.

“To me, it’s hard to turn in this community and not see the elements or the influence that came 50 years ago, when we began this conversation around ‘How do we embrace our culture with the 150th anniversary of the Restauration?'” he said. “And now here we are, celebrating the 200th.”

Ticket sales traditionally have kicked off on Syttende Mai, Norwegian Constitution Day, on May 17. This year, May 17 is a Saturday, but plans are to release tickets near that date.