Kardemimmit at the 2023 Festival!

Kardemimmit will be the feature group from Scandinavia to appear at the 2023 Astoria Scandinavian Midsummer Festival. Kardemimmit is an all-female band whose members sing and play kantele, the Finnish table harp. The group has been together for twenty years and recently released their sixth album. Kardemimmit will take listeners on a journey into the Finnish Midsummer’s magical night where …

2022 Festival Raffle Winners!

Congratulations to all the winners of the Midsummer Raffle and thanks to all who purchased chances to aid with festival expenses. We appreciate all the donors of the prizes for this fun event. If your name is not on the list, better luck next year! Here are this year’s winners of the Astoria Scandinavian Midsummer Festival Raffles! GRAND PRIZE $1,000 …

2022 Festival Grand Marshal!

Bonnie Fisher has been named Grand Marshal for the 2022 Astoria Scandinavian Midsummer Festival Stationary Optog from 11 AM to 12 noon on June 11 in front of the Maritime Museum and for the Walking Parade at the Midsummer Festival at 11:30 AM on June 18 at the Clatsop County Fairgrounds.  Fisher has been active in Astoria’s Nordic community for …

Scandinavian Festival Announces 2022 Court

The 55th annual Astoria Scandinavian Midsummer Festival celebration returns to the Clatsop County Fairgrounds on June 17, 18 and 19. The 2022 Midsummer Court will be formally introduced at Astoria High School at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, when they will give their first presentations. Admission is free, and the event is open to the public. Masks are required. The members …

2021 Sankta Lucia Festival!

The Sankta Lucia Festival of Lights will take place at 7 PM, Friday, November 26, at the Astoria High School Auditorium. The 2021 Lucia Bride Grace Maier will lead the Lucia procession accompanied by the 2021 Festival Court and Starboys. The Polka Dots will provide music for dancing and the Sons of Norway are doing the refreshments. Enjoy an evening …

The Long Lost Play

Weekend Break: Local residents find long-lost play By Ray Garcia For The AstorianJun 25, 2021Photo: A snapshot of the Astoria Finnish Socialist Club’s theater stage. Astor Street Opry Company It’s not every day that the Astor Street Opry Company gets to perform a long-lost historical play. But thanks to a recent finding of a variety of Finnish plays, local residents …

Reader’s Theater: Love and Politics

From Tuesday, June 15 at 5:00pm through June 30, the Astor Street Opry Company will present Reader’s Theater – From the Suomi Hall: Love and Politics.” Funded by the Clatsop Cultural Commission. Tune in on YouTube here! https://youtu.be/a-eG7mgyYdI

2021 Scanfest Church Service

A Scandinavian church service will be offered at 11 AM on Sunday, June 20, at Bethany Free Lutheran Church across from Safeway. There will be readings in Finnish, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish as well as in English. Scandinavian delicacies will be offered in take-away packages after the service.

2021 Scholarship Recipients

Grace Maier Tigard, Oregon, and Emma Biederman of Astoria will both receive $1,000 college scholarships from the Astoria Scandinavian Heritage Association. Both women are members of the 2021 Scandinavian Midsummer Festival Court. Maier is Senior Miss Norway and Biederman is Senior Miss Finland. Maier plans to study secondary education at Boise State University. Biederman plans to study kinesiology at Oregon …