17 of May parade in Ballard draws local Norwegians

2016 Ballard Parade
Photo by Lene Ellingsen Carpp

17th of May Celebration, aka Syttende Mai [Soot-n-duh My] - Norwegian Constitution Day is a day of celebration and national pride for all Norwegians everywhere.

Seattle's Ballard neighborhood is one of the centers of Nordic settlement in Puget Sound (along with Richmond Beach in Shoreline, Poulsbo on the Kitsap peninsula, and Norway Park near Mount Vernon) Ballard has celebrated with parties and parades since 1889. Their celebration is now the largest outside of Norway.

Richmond Beach Norwegians Stan Hansen (center)
with sister Evelyn Hansen Baker and brother Jan Hansen

In 1995 King Harald V and Queen Sonja dedicated a 52 foot mural in Ballard's Bergen Place, which depicts Seattle's Scandinavian heritage.

Jan Hansen with sister Evelyn (left) and
sister-in-law Shari Winstead

The current King of Norway, Harald V, came to Ballard in 2015 to celebrate the installation of the updated mural.

History Link has an essay on the visits of Norwegian royalty to the United States.

(Any others get photos? Send them in.)

5-20-2016 Corrections to photo captions