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Herbst Pavilion
One day just isn’t enough time to celebrate Norway Day 2006. There are so many events planned for this annual event that the organizers have booked an entire weekend of fun in Fort Mason Center’s Herbst Pavilion. The festival features Norwegian cuisine, crafts, and fashion, exhibits on sailing, skiing, and arctic exploration, and ultrahip Norwegian folk, blues, and gospel music.
 Norway Day is a great time to discover contemporary and traditional Norwegian cuisine. Norwegian chef and food and beverage consultant Thomas Nilsen of the Norwegian Culinary Institute provides cooking demonstrations during the festival and prepares a feast for the Saturday night gala. The San Francisco Norwegian Seaman’s Church Auxiliary operates the Tabitha Café at the festival, where guests can enjoy tasty waffles, chocolate, cheese, cookies, and more.
In addition to fabulous food, the festival offers inspiring exhibits on sailing and skiing, including the latest extreme sport to hit the fjords — kite skiing. A veritable fleet of windsurfers, kite boarders, and Norwegian-designed sailboats take to San Francisco Bay during Norway Day. Among the Norse vessels skimming across the water are knarrs — descended from Viking ships but now made from fiberglass as well as wood. San Francisco is home to one of the largest knarr flotillas outside of Norway.
A variety of entertainment awaits Norway Day visitors. Norwegian folk and electronica sensation Flunk performs at the Saturday night gala. During the day, the eclectic and eccentric musicians of Woodleg Odd amaze the crowds with their distinctive blues stylings. Also on the schedule are dramas by Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian pop gospel singer Kine, and composers and pianists Knut Anders and Haakon Graf.
Get down with the funky Norwegians at Norway Day 2006. For more information, refer to May 6 and www.norwayday.org.
– Claudia Willen
Images: Norway Day culinary experts, Photo: Jason Jew (top); Flunk band members, Photo: Jan Tomas Espedal (middle)
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