Throughout the year we provide our members with many cultural events and activities.
Put these dates in your calendar!
- December 6: Lucia Fest: Moreland Presbyterian Church, 1814 SE Bybee Blvd, Portland, Saturday, December 6th, 3pm-5pm. You are invited to enjoy a beautiful traditional pageant and music of the season by local Swedish chorus’, soloists, and dancers (details will be released as we get closer to the event). Following the program there will be the customary singing and dancing around the Christmas tree, a visit by Tomten, glögg, coffee and traditional baked goods. Please note the new date is now December 6th. We elected to move the event since Scan Fair will be the following weekend! Purchase your tickets online!
- December 7: Nordic Chorus Christmas Concert: Kick off your holiday season by attending The Portland Nordic Chorus Christmas Concert on Sunday, December 7, from 4 – 6:30 pm. The event will be held in the Great Hall at Nordic Northwest. Doors open at 3 pm with a no host bar of beer and wine for purchase. Light refreshments to be served. TICKETS can be purchased at the door or through the Nordic Northwest website Portland Nordic Chorus Annual Christmas Concert | nordicnorthwest
- December 13 + 14: Scan Fair! Look for New Sweden at Scan Fair this year at the Oregon Convention Center, Saturday 10 am – 5 pm and Sunday 10 am – 4 pm. We will have an information booth, plus additional items. Stop by the booth, we would love to see you! Nordic Northwest | ScanFair
- December 25: Julotta: Julotta is a traditional Swedish church service held at dawn on Christmas Day, celebrating the birth of Jesus. It is one of Sweden’s oldest Christmas traditions, deeply rooted in both religious practice and folk custom. Julotta will be held from 7am-10am at the First Immanuel Lutheran Church, 1816 NW Irving Street, Portland. Join us and meet the Official Oregon Lucia Court. Meet the Official Oregon Lucia Court: Swedish Julotta | nordicnorthwest
- January 11: JULGRANSPLUNDRING PARTY. In Sweden, January 13th (the 20th day of Christmas, called Tjugondedag Knut in Swedish) is considered the end of the Christmas holidays and with great fanfare a time to “throw out the Christmas tree”. To celebrate this, the Vasa Rosebuds and New Sweden Cultural Heritage Society are collaboratively hosting a Julgransplundring party (“Christmas tree looting”). We are inviting the following community groups to celebrate alongside New Sweden: the dancers from Vasa Rosebuds, Harmoni Lodge families, families from Swedish School of Portland, Trollbacken campers & counselors, and the Oregon Lucia Court! If you are a member of one of these groups, please join us. It should be a fun, festive celebration. The Julgransplundring party will be held at Augustana Lutheran Church, 2710 NE 14th, Portland, 2:00pm-4:00pm. We’ll have snacks, games, and singing as we “dance away Christmas”. PLEASE RSVP TO JULGRANSPLUNDRING
- Check back for more 2026 events.
Past Events
Thank you for your support at our 2025 functions!
November 29: We proudly hosted the 4th Annual Scandinavian Christmas Goat Market at the historic Norse Hall in Portland, Oregon. Guests got their holiday spirit by wandering through Nordic themed booths, tasting Nordic foods, creating Jule goat crafts, listening to live entertainment, and exploring a huge LEGO Christmas display.
September 27: Orienteering – Champoeg State Park, 10:30am-3:30pm. This event closed out the 2025 orienteering season. New Sweden members navigated the beautiful Champoeg State Park along the Willamette River on Saturday, September 27th, from 10:30 am to 3:00 pm. Please out to Tanaka Axberg at tanakaaxberg@gmail.com or (714) 656-7837 if you would like to sign up for next year’s events.
August 9: Kräftskiva’ (crayfish) Party: Kräftskiva is an annual seafood fest with lots of side dishes, drinks and joyous songs – a summertime celebration dear to Swedes of all ages. Here is a great video about the party: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Kd0co4fOaA. This event was for New Sweden Members & their guests.
June 14: League of Swedish Societies 98th Portland Midsummer Festival: Oaks Amusement Park. Midsummer is one of the most important Swedish festivities, a celebration of the summer solstice. Families and friends got together to raise the Maypole (majstång or midsommarstång) and dance around it, sing, enjoy food and other treats, and celebrate summer at its height.
April 30: Valborg Celebration: Over 40 people came out to enjoy a lovely evening with a bonfire, singing, live music, and Swedish-style hot dogs. We happily celebrated Valborg on the actual day of the event, even if it was a Wednesday, and look forward to arrival of warmer weather (as officially ushered in by the event).
March 30: Annual Membership Meeting: We held our annual meeting at the West Hills Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. After a short business meeting, we held a simple celebration in anticipation of Swedish Easter, which falls on Sunday, April 20. The celebration was followed by a wonderful reading of Secrets, Lies, and Sneaky Spies by author Rayna Flye. You may read about Rayna at Rayna Flye | Cozy Spy Mystery Writer. The meeting was a wonderful, relaxed opportunity which allowed us to meet other members.
Thank you for your support of our 2024 functions!
December 14: We enjoyed a beautiful Scandinavian traditional pageant and the joyous music of the season by celebrating Lucia Fest at Moreland Presbyterian Church. There was music and performances by the children of The Swedish School of Portland, the Portland Scandinavian Choir, Vocal soloists, and Oregon’s 2024 Lucia Court. Following the program there was the customary singing and dancing around the Christmas tree “Ringlekar Runt Julgranen”, a visit from Tomten, glögg, coffee, and traditional baked goods.
November 30: We proudly hosted the 3rd Annual Scandinavian Christmas Goat Market at the historic Norse Hall in Portland, Oregon. Guests got their holiday spirit by wandering through over 30 Nordic themed booths, tasting Nordic foods, creating Jule goat crafts, listening to live entertainment, and exploring a huge LEGO Christmas display.
October 27: We offered a cookie baking class for the holidays. We made two very different kinds of cookies- the Drömmar (Swedish Dream Cookies) that melt in your mouth, and the more complicated, special occasion Sara Bernhardt cookies. Our instructor Richard Freimark came from a family of bakers. His grandfather was a chocolatier in Austria, and his father started the largest retail bakery in upstate New York.
August 17: We celebrated Kraftskiva, a cherished Swedish tradition. Our celebration included crayfish and good company. We had a delightful spread of fresh crayfish, tasty sides, and refreshing drinks.
June 15: We had an event with the League of Swedish Societies. The 97th Annual Portland Midsummer Festival at Oak’s Park! This was one of the oldest official Oregon Heritage Traditions! There was music and of course the Majstång.
May 25: We had a special celebration for the 25th anniversary of Swedish Roots in Oregon. There was an informative program and refreshments provided. Thank you to the West Hills Unitarian Fellowship Hall.
May 17 – We had a birthday party for the one and only Ross Fogelquist! This celebration had cake and drinks. It was also Norwegian Constitution Day! Thank you to the Oslo Lounge at Norse Hall!
May 5 – Valborg was a fun success! We partnered with the local Finnish groups, where guests enjoyed music and korv! Well, the Finns call it “Makkara” 😉
March 24 – We held our Annual Member’s Meeting in Lake Oswego and celebrated a Swedish Easter with brunch and good company. Our President gave a speech recapping 2023 and looking forward to 2024. Ross gave a speech about our 35th anniversary. Wow, 35 years of sharing Swedish culture. Then Jimmy showed a video of the 15 Best Places to Visit in Sweden. Thank you to everyone who attended, and to the Lundin family for hosting.
