Scandinavian Festival

Overpriced food and drinks, but I suppose that’s to be expected at any kind of «festival.» My son really likes watching the folk dancing, and there are lots of sugary treats for the kids to beg for. Fun props (Scandinavian ship for the kids to climb on, windmills, etc.) and a decent amount of vendors selling handmade gifts. Good for the tourists.

I love this festival just for the fact that you can get Scandinavian treats, even if it’s only once a year! It’s four days long and each day is dedicated to a different Scandinavian country: Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark. Each day they showcase different cultural activities such as crafts, dancing and trolls. Because, you know, trolls are all over Scandinavia.
I didn’t get to try all of the treats that I was hoping to this year, simply because I foolishly went to lunch and filled up on Indian food right before we came out. I did try the æbleskiver but only at the firemen’s location — they were pretty tasty. Unfortunately the lefse I tried was pretty bad, but there’s a food cart in Portland that offer amazing lefse so I wasn’t too heartbroken. They also have Swedish meatballs, meat pies and pancakes and various lingonberry treats.
I really like that JC has a lot of the sculptures and Scandinavian themed stuff up all year round, it’s quite evident that they love their heritage. I love it too so I’m happy to come celebrate and get a little Scandi-​fix (turns out I miss Sweden more than I thought I would). Definitely worth the small trip from Eugene!

They pack a ton of stuff to see and do and eat and buy and enjoy in tiny little Junction City’s Scandinavian Festival. It’s truly impressive.
— Food, food, food! — æbleskivers, frijos, Swedish meat pies, Swedish meat balls, lingonberrry smoothies and on and on
— Performances on two stages, including traditional dancing by youth and adults (some troops coming from across the west coast), music, folk dancing instruction and storytelling
— An Oregon Microbrew and Wine Terrace, directly under JC’s steep water tower
— The Scandia Run
— Gift stalls, selling many crafts like Swedish painted wood ware, floral headbands, whirlagigs, jewelry, puppets, woodworking, etc.
— Demonstrations of traditional crafts, such as hardanger embroidery, bobbin lace and tatted lace
— A nightly meatball dinner ($ 10) and a daily breakfast buffet ($ 7)
This really is a lot. This community has done so much work to create a varied and entertaining experience for four days every August. It clearly pays off.
Of course, the real deal about this Festival is the Swedish meat pies. Yes, they’re your basic pastie (ground beef, potatoes, onions, cheese and spices in a sour cream pastry), but it’s somehow different here, somehow much more delicious. This is what your coworkers will be talking about come Festival week.