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We host monthly meetings on the 1st Thursday of every month except for July and August when we have "summer vacation". During January and February, we host virtual meetings via Zoom so folks can avoid driving in the dark and stormy weather. We meet in person during all other months, and those meetings are held at First Lutheran Church, 725 33rd Street, Astoria, Oregon USA 97103 from 7 pm to 8:30 pm (although when we are really having fun, we sometimes go until 9 pm!).
Here is the information for joining via Zoom in 2025 - just watch the Our Upcoming Events page for information on each meeting:
Meeting ID: 897 8962 1552 Passcode: 175534
The President typically kicks off with a short business meeting (~20 minutes or less), then we break for snacks and beverages if meeting in person, after which the evening program follows. This may be a presentation, crafts, Danish Bingo, viewing/discussing a film, or another activity. Members new and old are invited to present ideas for monthly programs - we welcome fresh ideas!
Each year at the Astoria Scandinavian Midsummer Festival the Lower Columbia Danish Society hosts a booth selling delicious, authentic Danish fare. The booth is normally the only fundraiser we hold, but it supports all the yearly activities of the Danish Society.
The Danish treats sold are aebleskiver ( Danish pancake balls ) which are cooked on site, marinerede sild (pickled herring), and a meal that includes frikadeller (lean pork meatballs) , rødkål (sweet and sour red cabbage), and rugbrød (rye bread).
Preparation begins in May with a small army of Danes working together to make frikadeller, aebleskiver mix, and other items for the booth. Setting up the structure of the booth and the kitchen area takes a few hours on the Wednesday and Thursday evenings before the Festival in mid-June.
Many hands are needed during the Festival to make the booth run smoothly. The Danes rely on members, family, friends of members, and friends of the community to fill all of the volunteer shifts.
Please consider volunteering for a shift or two , it’s a fun way to learn to prepare Danish food, participate in the Midsummer Festival, and get to know your fellow Danes better!
See our Sign-up Page in May to check shift times for June Festival. Contact us if you have any questions.
Our master meatball chef, Toby Dyal, carefully browns over 500 frikadeller that have been mixed and hand-shaped by other volunteer cooks. The meatballs are then oven-cooked to ensure they are ready to serve to hungry Festival-goers .
The Danish Booth is a Festival favorite, with home-cooked Danish food and pricing to make any thrifty Dane happy.
This hearty Danish meal of a lean pork meatball, cabbage, and rye bread is a crowd favorite. With a bit of Astoria Danish ingenuity, our master meatball chef invented a triangular meatball shape that doesn’t roll off your plate!
A very traditional dish throughout Scandinavia, the Danish Booth serves it up with a sprinkling of dill.
These light, slightly sweet Danish treats are a cross between a pancake and a popover in flavor and texture. We serve them with powdered sugar and raspberry jam.
Our Midsummer Festival is the crowning event of the year for all of our Nordic lodges, and the Danes participate every year by hosting a Danish Booth serving home-made traditional Danish foods.
We are holding Festival in 2024, and the Danes will be hosting their full food both!
Festival has something for people of all ages: music, dancing, homemade Nordic foods, entertainment, a beer garden, aqavit tasting, special breakfasts and dinners, the annual Running of the Trolls fun walk/run, a torchlight parade and hex-burning, games, and the raising of the Maypole.
Join in by attending and taking a short two-hour shift in the Danish Booth. Experienced Danes are happy to help you learn what you need to know to help at the booth if you have not done this before or if you need a refresher.
Sign-ups for shifts will open in May; see our Sign-up Webpage for more information.
Astoria Scandinavian Midsummer Festival has been around for more than 50 years, and it is now an official part of the Oregon Heritage Tradition (https://www.oregon.gov/oprd/hcd/ohc/pages/oht.aspx).
For more information on this year’s Festival events, click on the Festival link here: https://astoriascanfest.com/
The Danish booth has both “back of the house” and “front of the house” components because we make food to order. Our aebleskiver are served with raspberry jam and powdered sugar, and they are one of the hands-down favorite food items at Festival.
Jen Zamon and Cass Liljenwall look forward to good luck following the annual hex-burning event on opening night of the Festival.
The local Nordic community, through the Astoria Scandinavian Festival Association, marks the start of the jul (Christmas) season with a traditional Santa Lucia (Saint Lucy) procession on the Friday following American Thanksgiving. Young women, girls, and boys process with candles and stars to symbolize light overcoming darkness. In addition to singing carols and enjoying traditional dances by our local Viking and Nordic Dancers, there is live music and dancing for friends and family around the Christmas tree after the evening program.
Lucia celebrations will be on Friday 22November 2024 See our Local Nordic Events page for more details.
Our four local Nordic lodges (Danes, Finns, Norwegians, and Swedes) provide and serve light snacks such as cookies or cake and beverages to event attendees every year, with the host lodge rotating through each of the lodges. The Danes will next be hosting Lucia in November 2027.
Young women, girls, and boys participate in the procession that kicks off the Christmas season for Nordic lodges and societies in Astoria, Oregon.
We will be celebrating Jul together in early December 2024 - please stay tuned for the final date.
St. Mary Star of the Sea Auditorium (corner of 14th and Grand) in Astoria.
1491 Grand Avenue, Astoria, OR 97103
Social hour beginning at 6 pm
Convocation then dinner served approximately 6:30 pm.
*** Note - we will again host this party at St. Mary, Star of the Sea Auditorium for 2024 ***
Jul (Christmas time) is a very special season in Nordic countries, and Danes celebrate with their own traditional foods and customs. We share these traditions with each other every year by hosting a Christmas party and potluck dinner. The Society provides some key traditional foods - frikadeller (lean pork meatballs), rødkål (sweet and sour red cabbage), medisterpolse (onion sausage), flaesketeg (roast pork loin), risalamande (rice pudding with almonds) - and members bring dishes to share from their own family favorites.
In addition to a feast fit for royalty, we decorate a large, freshly-cut Christmas tree with traditional ornaments, sing carols, enjoy live music, dance, and look forward to a special visit from Julmanden (Santa Claus). The Jul Parti is a family-friendly, alcohol-free event that welcomes children and adults of all ages.
In 2024, we will hold our celebration in the St. Mary Star of the Sea Church Auditorium because the Astoria Masonic Hall is closed for repairs. St. Mary’s has disabiity accessible facilities to host the more than sixty people who typically attend to celebrate with us.
There are several opportunities to get involved in this much-anticipated community event - from planning the party in October, to helping decorate the hall and tree the morning of the party, to assisting and cooking. Many hands make light work, and helping out is a great way to meet and make new friends, reconnect with old friends, and share the holiday spirit.
Every year at the Jul Parti, society members put together hand-made gift bags for children attending the event.
We celebrate Fastelavn with snacks to share, hot chocolate, sweet boller rolls, dancing, and traditional games for children and adults.
As with all Fastelavn celebrations, there is a costume contest - Danes take their costumes very seriously! Folks get really creative - come and show off your favorite costume.
Fastelavn will be held on Saturday 01 March 2025 in the Auditorium at St. Mary Star of the Sea Church. Unlike in 2021 and 2022 when we had to have a socially-distanced goodie-bag delivery and Golden Ticket lottery, we will meet in person ‘as per usual’ in 2025.
We serve these traditional sweet cardamom rolls at our Fastelavn party, along with other goodies such as home-made hot chocolate and cookies.
One of the contests at Fastelavn consists of kids taking whacks at a paper barrel filled with candy goodies and a toy black cat. Releasing the stuffed animal from the barrel symbolizes banishing bad luck for the upcoming year. (Real cats are no longer used!)
Part of Danish tradition includes a little cos-play during Fastelavn get-togethers. Both kids and adults participate. We’ve even had Tyrannosaurus at our parties!
