February brings new opportunities to explore Nordic culture both virtually and in-person.
This month, the indigenous Sámi people from across northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Kola Peninsula of Russia celebrate their National Day. It is always on February 6, the date of the first Sámi congress in 1917 in Trondheim, Norway, when Sámi from Norway and Sweden met to discuss common issues.
Coinciding with the Sámi National Day is the annual Sámi Film Festival which will run February 6-13 with both in-person and online streaming options. This year’s program is curated by acclaimed visual artist Matti Aikio and will combine short films and feature films from different eras. If you are local to the New York City or Seattle areas, you can enjoy the festival at Scandinavia House or Majestic Bay Theatres, respectively. Otherwise virtual screenings will be available nationwide from February 7-13.
This month also brings the annual Nordic Spirit Symposium which will take place February 7-8 in Thousand Oaks. Entitled “Before the Vikings: The Extraordinary Nordic Bronze Age”, the symposium, co-hosted by the Scandinavian American Cultural and Historical Foundation and California Lutheran University, will explore one of the most important and exciting periods in the history of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland. Archaeologists from major universities in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland will give illustrated presentations on this extraordinary era in Scandinavian prehistory. For more details and registration information, visit the website.
Save the date for the Scandinavian Heritage Fair in Mission Viejo on Saturday, April 26, hosted by the Daughters of Norway, Turid Jespersen Lodge #44. There will be demonstrations of traditional crafts such as rosemaling, spinning, weaving, wood carvers, and wood burners. Watch the preparation of traditional foods such as aebleskiver, krumkake, lefse, and Norwegian waffles. Enjoy open-faced sandwiches, riskrem, soups, kransekake, and other Scandinavian desserts. The fair will also feature products from Norrdesign T-Shirts, watercolor artist Joan Johnson, and many more Scandinavian vendors. Admission is free. See their flier for details.
Virtual Events for February
Online book clubs continue to meet. Visit Nordic Book Club Meetings: February 2025 to see details about book selections and meeting dates this month.
Nordic Table Event: Cozy Winter Snacks with Kristi Bissell (Thursday, 2/6)
Open up those cupboards and freezers and dig out some pantry staples to whip up cozy snacks for cold winter days! Kristi Bissell of True North Kitchen will guide students through the steps for blueberry soup and a snackable spice cake using frozen berries and essential baking ingredients. This class is presented as a demonstration, so students can watch the entire process and ask questions before tackling the dishes later.
Virtual Sámi Film Festival (2/7-13)
The annual Sámi Film Festival celebrates the rich storytelling traditions of the Sámi, the Indigenous people of the northernmost parts of Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. Now in its 7th year, the festival presents a variety of newly released and classic Sámi features, documentaries, and short films, sharing Sámi film with a global audience.
FamilieTid: Folk Stories from North of the Arctic Circle (Saturday, 2/8, Free)
Join celebrated Norwegian Arctic cultural presenter and preserver Stina Fagertun to hear folktales from north of the Arctic Circle. Gather the family together to listen to Stina and be brought to the Arctic Circle with some ancient stories and folktales. The stories will delight the children and whoever else in the family loves a good story.
Intro to Swedish with Jean Hanslin (Saturday, 2/8)
Curious about the Swedish language but not ready yet to commit to a multi-date class? Looking for a quick and low-pressure way to get excited and prepare for an upcoming visit to Sweden? This two-hour introductory workshop is the perfect way to get a feel for Swedish—pick up a bit of grammar and learn how to pronounce some words as part of basic conversation.
Introduction to Norwegian Genealogy (2/12 & 2/14)
This class is for those who are familiar with genealogy basics, but haven’t dug into Norwegian genealogical research yet. The class will focus on Norwegian naming traditions, history and geography along with strategies for reading old handwriting and finding where in Norway your ancestor may have originated. This class also includes a copy of our “Research Guide for Norwegian Genealogy: For Beginning and Experienced Genealogists.” This class is two days with different material presented each day.
Intro to Northern Sámi with Áila O’Loughlin (Sunday, 2/16)
Are you curious about the Sámi language and culture? Are you looking for a quick and low-pressure way to get excited and prepare for an upcoming visit to the north of Finland, Sweden, or Norway? This two-hour introductory workshop taught by Áila O’Loughlin is the perfect way to learn some history of the nine living dialects of Sápmi, get a feel for North Sámi, pick up a bit of grammar and learn how to pronounce some words as part of basic greetings. Families welcome!
Swedish-American Newspapers: An Intriguing and Increasingly Accessible Source for Genealogists (Monday, 2/17)
Join the Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center’s Genealogy Club for a discussion about Swedish-American newspapers with Jonas Björk, Visiting Professor of Scandinavian Studies at Augustana College.
Cultural Connections: Stranded Colorwork in Knitted UK Gloves (Sunday, 2/23, Free)
Join Vesterheim for their series of cross-cultural webinars exploring stranded colorwork in knitting from multiple cultural perspectives. Cultural Connections: Stranded Colorwork in Knitted UK Gloves is the second in the series and is led by Dr. Angharad Thomas, an author, researcher, and knitter from the UK. The cross-cultural series webinars will foster perspective about the way Norwegian and Scandinavian handcrafts are part of a global community.
Meet the Author with Elin Anna Labba, “The Rocks Will Echo Our Sorrow” (Tuesday, 2/25)
Sámi author and journalist Elin Anna Labba will discuss her latest publication The Rocks will Echo Our Sorrow: The Forced Displacement of the Northern Sámi (2024). The book tells the deep and personal story—told through history, poetry, and images—of the forced displacement of the Sámi people from their homeland in northern Norway and Sweden and its reverberations today. This conversation will be led by Mathilde Magga, PhD Candidate at the University of Washington.
ASI Nordic Handcraft Event: Sølje Spoon Earrings (Thursday, 2/27)
Spend an evening exploring Scandinavian silver work by creating your silver and gold-washed earrings! Ever wonder why sølje pins have those shiny dangles with silver disc drops? These discs are called “spoons” or “shells” in Norwegian. Historically, silver has long been seen as a protective element against evil and abduction by the hulder folk (hidden folk) in Scandinavian folklore. Legend has it that should you run into the devil wearing your sparkling sølje, he would see his reflection and run away! Don’t run away from a chance to create your earrings in this short class designed to introduce you to the beauty of Scandinavian silver work. Students will assemble up to two pairs of earrings using multiple disc elements suspended from sterling silver French hook ear wires.
Which events or experiences look interesting to you?
Even though I didn’t quite follow through on all my end-of-year reading intentions, I’m happy and satisfied with how the 2024 reading year wrapped up! Unfortunately, I got waylaid with delays from library holds and an attempted read that ended up not working for me. Instead I seized the moment and jumped into a holiday read that crossed my path.
In the “How to Winter” workshop, Kari Leibowitz will share research and practical strategies participants can use to embrace winter wherever they live. Drawing from her psychological research experience, her time living in the Arctic of Norway, and her travels to Nordic countries researching how to embrace winter, Kari will help participants learn how to cultivate a more positive wintertime mindset. Kari will also share interactive exercises for making winter wonderful and highlight how these evidence-based practices can help you find meaning and opportunity in times of darkness or difficulty year-round. Join us to participate in the chat, to expand your mindset, and to embrace the cold, dark days of winter!
This is the first in a series of four live lectures that will be held on Wednesdays in January. Each lecture has a separate registration. The Sámi are the only recognized Indigenous people in Europe whose lands, Sápmi, are claimed and divided by the Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, and Russian nation-states. Despite the central roles they’ve played in the political, economic, and cultural histories of Northern Europe, the Sámi are commonly depicted as ahistorical wildlings whose lands are an unused frontier, ripe for development today. This series illuminates how untrue those depictions are. “Sámi History 101” examines the fundaments of Sámi history and culture, surveying oral histories, subsistence practices, societal organization, symbols of Sámi culture, and historical relations with neighbors. For information on the other sessions, visit 
Before bakers bought yeast at the store, they captured and used natural yeasts at home, and these flavors and techniques are essential to recreating certain Nordic breads. While we can use commercial yeast today, baking with natural yeast, otherwise known as a sourdough starter, still adds nutrition, flavor, and good keeping quality to breads of all kinds. In this hour-long demo, Kristi Bissell of 
Join woodcarver Steph Hughes and learn the art of kolrosing while being inspired by the story of the sloop Restauration, which will be the subject of the kolrosing design. Come learn as a family by kolrosing the ship that brought some of the first Norwegian immigrant families to America. There is no live Zoom event and no scheduled class time – your family can participate anytime during the month when it works for your schedule. Price includes a special folk art class kit designed for two participants to explore kolrosing. The kit includes all materials needed, some images from the Vesterheim collection as inspiration, and a treat.
In the period beginning in 1825 and for about 100 years following, nearly 40% of the population of Norway – more than 800,000 Norwegians – immigrated to the United States. Most of those immigrants came for “economic opportunity,” but the first immigrants – known as the Sloopers of 1825 – came for religious freedom. The voyage was three years in the planning by an alliance of Quakers and Haugean Lutherans. Beginning on July 4th, 1825, a 54-foot sloop named Restaurasjonen (The Restauration) took 52 passengers on a 98-day journey from Stavanger, Norway to New York City. This presentation follows the story from its roots (in the Napoleonic Wars), through the voyage itself, the reception in New York City, and finally to the first Norwegian settlement in the United States in Kendall, New York.
The Museum hosts genealogy sessions the fourth Saturday of most months via Zoom. In January, Dan Hubbard will present “I” is for Identity Crisis: Part 1 of 2. We think of identity as something fixed and simple, but as we try to reconstruct the identities of long-gone people, we need to realize that identity is a much slipperier concept. The things we use to define a person’s identity can change during that person’s lifetime. There are also questions of how a person self-identifies, the motivations they can have for changing how they self-identify, and how those changes affect the records they leave behind. Part 2 will take place Saturday, 2/22 (
Are you curious about the Finnish language, but not ready yet to commit to a multi-date class? Are you looking for a quick and low-pressure way to get excited and prepare for an upcoming visit to Finland? This two-hour introductory workshop is the perfect way to get a feel for Finnish, pick up a bit of grammar, and learn how to pronounce some words as part of basic conversation.
Norway has a variety of more than 450 different folk costumes, many of which feature highly embellished aprons, purses, beaded breastplates, and other adornment. Join textiles instructor Jane Addams and Vesterheim Chief Curator Laurann Gilbertson as they explore examples of the fine handcraft that makes each style of bunad so striking and special.
Dr. Maren Johnson, Luther College’s Associate Professor of Nordic Studies and Torgerson Center for Nordic Studies Director, facilitates a regular bokprat (book group), discussing Scandinavian authors and Scandinavian life. December’s discussion is a twist on the usual format and features the film Christmas as Usual available on Netflix. Thea is going to her rural hometown to celebrate a classic Norwegian Christmas with her family, but this year she’s bringing along Jashan, her Indian boyfriend, which will put everyone’s preconceived beliefs and traditions on their heads.
Join Vesterheim to ring in the New Year with some appetizers inspired by New Nordic cuisine! Celebrated chef, cookbook author, food historian, and Nordic Food Geek Patrice Johnson will demonstrate creative takes on classic appetizers. Recipes will include new spins on old favorites, something sweet, and signature cocktails/mocktails. This Vesterheim cooking class is designed as a small-group cook-along and they invite exchange between the instructor and students in order to build community around food traditions.
Create a felted reindeer ready to take off for the North Pole in this afternoon-long class. Students will follow step-by-step instructions to transform hand dyed wool from instructor Laura Berlage’s own sheep into a felted reindeer complete with antlers and bell! This class builds on basic needle felting skills and is appropriate for students who have previous needle felting experience, such as one of ASI’s other ASI classes. Suitable for ages 16+. Kits ($32 value) are included in the class fee. Each kit includes the tools and materials for one student. Registration closes December 11.
Join Kristi Bissell of 
Get cozy this fall with a vegetarian soup dinner! Kristi Bissell of 
Join the National Nordic Museum for a virtual talk on Icelandic flora with Dr. Pawel Wasowicz, senior scientist at the Icelandic Institute of Natural History. In this talk, inspired by the special exhibition 
Start preparing for the holidays with make-ahead recipes perfect for gifting and entertaining! Kristi Bissell of 
Light some candles, grab your favorite mug, and join Vesterheim for an evening of warm drinks and good company as we celebrate the coziest time of year! Malina Bickford will guide you in exploring different styles of hot cocktails (mocktails!) incorporating ingredients from the pantry, some unexpected flavors, and plenty of aquavit! Whether you’re an aspiring mixologist or simply looking to unwind with a steamy nightcap, this promises to be a very koselig experience. Enrollment Deadline: 11/4
Kransekake is considered the “queen of Norwegian cakes,” and Nordic cooking expert and cookbook author Patrice Johnson will help you construct your own traditional cake tower during this fun interactive baking experience. During this special online cooking class, you will learn how to prepare this almond wreath cake baked in graduated rings. This class is currently sold out but you can be added to the waitlist.
Are you just starting your Swedish language learning journey, but are already keen to start reading? Are you looking for an opportunity to keep up with your Swedish after the term ends? This class is for you! Read and discuss the winter story Julen kommer till Mumindalen (Christmas Comes to the Mumin Valley) by Tove Jansson and participate in activities to support your reading and vocabulary building. This class is for students with at least one year of Swedish language study or equivalent. Class materials will be provided by the instructor.
Create a festive, quick decoration with needle felting this season! This fun project makes use of cookie cutters you may already have at home to make a felted ornament with clean lines, even shape, and adorable details. Students will work alongside instructor Kayla Ann to learn needle felting basics which are applicable to a range of other projects. Once you get started, felted ornaments become an easy project and the perfect gift to decorate a present or tree! Students 
Delve into ancestry and history at this genealogy session with Sue Schlichting focused on the resource 
Join Vesterheim and Kate Running to learn how to work with two colors of yarn to make this patterned hat. Work with a Nordic-inspired motif and learn the cultural tradition of stranded knitting. Intermediate level, no colorwork experience necessary but students should know how to knit & purl. A kit of materials (a $40 value) with Strikkegarn yarn is shipped to your home and included in the cost of registration. Enrollment Deadline: 11/11
Get a peek into San Francisco chef and baker Nichole Accettola’s kitchen this holiday season! Nichole, who lived and cooked for many years in Denmark, today runs Kantine bakery café in San Francisco and is the author of 
Bake along with Kristi Bissell of 
Himmeli making is a Nordic tradition brought by Finnish immigrants to northern Minnesota. Traditionally hung above a table or dining area, these geometric straw mobiles are a Christmas tradition with a link to old folk farming beliefs for ensuring a bountiful harvest. Students will gain experience working with natural material (straw) as they construct a medium sized himmeli mobile. Focus will also be on the cultural and historic significance of this craft found in Finland, Norway, Sweden, the Baltic countries, and beyond. Enrollment Deadline: 11/23
Create a jolly felted gnome ready to bring home some holiday joy in this afternoon-long class. Students will follow step-by-step instructions to transform hand dyed wool from instructor Laura Berlage’s own sheep into a felted festive gnome (known in Sweden as a tomte or in Norway as a nisse) complete with long cap and beard! Students will get tips for shaping a cheerful face as well as hear stories from Laura’s farm and discuss gnomes in Scandinavian culture and beyond. Suitable for all skill levels, ages 11+. Kits ($32 value) are included in the class fee. Each kit includes the tools and materials for one student. Registration closes December 2.
Here’s a chance to see Sweden’s submission to the Oscars for Best International Feature, 
Catch the North American premiere of 
