ENTERTAINMENT
Marvel at the talents of Nordic artists and dance groups from around the Pacific Northwest.
There's always a great line-up of dancing groups, local talent, Nordic musicians, historic talks, kids acting troupes and much, much more! It's two days of non-stop live entertainment.
SATURDAY LINEUP
10 am
10:20 - 11:05 am
11:15 - 12:00 pm
12:10 - 12:55 pm
1:00 - 1:15 pm
1:15 - 1:30 pm
1:30 - 1:45 pm
1:55 – 2:40 pm
2:50 - 3:35 pm
3:45 - 4:30 pm
5 pm
Doors
Revontuli (Finnish strings and woodwinds)
Liam Barnes and friends (Traditional Nordic folk dance tunes/songs)
Granstrom & Rogers (Contemporary music from Sweden and Oregon)
Scandinavian of the Year (Winner Announced)
Pickled Herring Eating Contest (sponsored by Broder Söder)
Timberhaven Vikings Fashion Show
Nye Älgen (Nordic folk music and dance)
Martha and Maren (Norwegian Hardanger fiddles)
Varelse (Instrumental folk fusion)
Show ends
SUNDAY LINEUP
10 am
10:20 - 10:35 am
10:45 - 11:30 am
11:40 - 12:25 pm
12:30 - 1:30 pm
1:30 - 2:00 pm
2:10 - 2:55 pm
3:05 - 3:50 pm
3:50 - 4 pm
4 pm
Doors
Timberhaven Vikings Fashion Show
Robert Gustafson and Avi Gaston (Nordic Christmas songs)
Tulehoidjad (Estonian traditional dance/music)
Portland Nordic Chorus & Lucia Court of Oregon
Meatball Eating Contest sponsored by Scandinavian Cafe
SusseFusse (International folk dance youth troupe)
Vasa Youth Dancers (Swedish folk dance youth group)
Raffle Drawing
Show ends
Revontuli
Revontuli ("Northern Lights") is Valerie Blessley and Jennifer Pratt-Walter. Valerie plays Finnish kantele, harp and woodwinds with fellow harp and kantele player Jennifer. They played at Midsummer and at the Naselle Finnish-American Folk Festival last July. Valerie has performed at Scan Fair several times as well in the past with the kantele group Livakat and as a solo performer. They have been performing together as Celtic Muse since 1995.
Liam Barnes
Liam has been playing accordion for fifteen years, and has loved Scandinavian music from a young age. He has traveled extensively by land and sea as a musician. After finally finding others who share a love of Swedish folk music, he is excited to be playing for the Nordic community. Liam connected with local musicians here and was about to join in playing for our regular Monday night Nordic social dance group when the pandemic hit. He was able to provide music for the League of Swedish Societies in 2021 along with Amy Hakanson. Liam is Icelandic on his Amma's side and loves the old sagas and rune songs.
Granstrom & Rogers
Granstrom & Rogers is a duo consisting of Jimmy Granstrom and Brent Rogers. Jimmy is a songwriter who has had his songs performed and recorded in Sweden, Germany and London's West End. Together with Thomas Karlsson, he’s also part of the duo “Project Earthbridge”. Their song “2019 Again” has been in rotation on radio stations in Portland and Sweden for more than a year since its release in March 2021. Brent is a professional musician, producer, audio engineer and songwriter who has recorded and released songs with the likes of Tim Gorman from "The Who". Jimmy will provide spoken introductions and lyrical excerpts while Brent will sing a variety of original songs they have co-written, including Jimmy’s English translations of Swedish songs by both million-selling songwriters as well as up and coming artists.
Vasa Youth Group
The Vasa Rosebuds: Currently under the direction of Christine Smith. Vasa Rosebuds have routinely performed and led majstång dancing at Midsummer celebrations in Portland and Astoria. Within the past 5 years, they’ve traveled internationally to dance and participate in Midsummer celebrations in Sweden and Canada. In December they were featured at NNW ScanFair in Portland with a dance performance and a Lucia pageant. Additionally, they have performed many times at the Junction City Scandinavian Festival, participated yearly in the Junior Rose Festival Parade, and danced at many other local multicultural celebrations. They also performed at the Grand Opening of IKEA in Portland.
Martha & Maren
M & M: Twin Norwegian Fiddles: Maren and Martha first met in 2016, when Maren was looking for a violin teacher. The two hit it off, and now play both regular fiddle and the Norwegian hardanger fiddle together. Martha is a Northwest based fiddler who teaches and performs on both the regular fiddle and the hardanger fiddle. She has studied extensively in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, and she directs the Seattle Lilla Spelmanslag. Together, Maren and Martha focus on great styling for dance, strong rhythm, beautiful harmonies and having a darn good time!
Varelse
For several years after returning home from studying Scandinavian folk music in Sweden, Amy Hakanson searched for fellow musicians interested in exploring modern and traditional Scandinavian folk music. Since autumn of 2018 they have been creating their own blend of instrumental folk fusion. Their debut album, Creature Comforts, is the result of their efforts to push themselves musically, to create collaboratively, and to test the boundaries of instrumental folk music while maintaining a connection to tradition.
Robert Gustafson and Avi Gaston
Father and daughter duo Robert Gustafson and Avi Gaston present Nordic Christmas and folk songs with vocals, fiddle and guitar. Robert kept Avi and her siblings in touch with their Scandinavian roots by way of music, dance and Nordic traditions as part of their heritage growing up. Avi trained in violin at a young age and has been well versed in Nordic fiddling as well as Celtic/Scottish music, attending music camps across the US, including Harald Haugaard's West Denmark Fiddle School yearly since inception. Robert has 6 years of Music Éducation and Masters vocal studies under directors of St. Olaf and Concordia College choral traditions. He directed the U. S. Army Chorus and created their first training program.
Tulehoidjad "Torch Bearers"
Tulehoidjad "Torch Bearers" is the Estonian folk dance group of Portland, Oregon. Formed in 1950, Tulehoidjad has taught Estonian folk dances to the four generations of Estonian immigrants and many American friends. Keeping Estonian traditions alive and teaching Americans about Estonian folk dance are the primary aims of Tulehoidjad folk dancers.
Portland Nordic Chorus & Lucia Court of Oregon
Portland Nodic Chorus is a mixed community chorus celebrating their friendship and common interest in Nordic Culture and Music by rehearsing and performing music with a Scandinavian connection. They sing primarily in Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish, and English.
An Oregon tradition since 1956, the Lucia of Oregon scholarship program puts young women interested in Nordic heritage in touch with the beloved Lucia legend of Scandinavia, while offering them the opportunity to serve their community and receive scholarships.
Süssefüsse International Folk Dance Troupe
Süssefüsse International Folk Dance Troupe was founded in 1985 by folk dance enthusiast Heidi Vorst who currently directs the classes and performances. Dancers wear international costumes to represent the many global cultures of our world and the dances they learn, as well as to connect to some of their own heritages. Süssefüsse has performed for farm workers, students, retired seniors, kings and queens, and has travelled and performed in both Japan and Hungary. They often perform locally in the Pacific Northwest for Scanfair and Midsommar, the Japanese Obon Festival, Portland's Polish Festival and Folklife in Seattle.
Nye Algen "The New Moose"
At the core, Nye Älgen is Dave Weisel on accordion and Kim Majors on fiddle. They have been playing Nordic folk dance music for decades and dancing longer. Dave and Kim decided to collaborate musically, they have friends join them frequently and you can catch them playing regularly for the Nordic social folk dance group, Norske Rundansere, most Monday nights at the Nordic Northwest Nordia House.