Nordic Fest founders Harry Olson and the late Gary Svenson near the former Hardy's Western Auto before an early Nordic Fest
Apparently questions about how Nordic Fest came to be were quite frequent, even in the early years of the event. The 1970 Nordic Fest program, a pale pastel color, 8 1/2" x 11" in size with an elegant cover designed by the late Laura Hoeg, includes the following quote about Nordic Fest that has remained unchanged through this event's stellar history:
The people of Decorah have combined the efforts of many of their regular celebrations into the Nordic Fest. The purpose of the Fest is to extend to all people the opportunity to share Decorah's Scandinavian heritage. The Fest is sponsored by a nonprofit corporation founded by Decorah people and is cultural rather than commercial in nature.
Church dinners featuring Scandinavian treats, community dinners connected to today's Syttende Mai Norwegian Constitution Day holiday, evening folk music celebrations in local barns and many other memorable moments happened in Decorah throughout its extensive Norwegian cultural history that dates back to the 1850's. All such activities laid important ground work for the future success of Nordic Fest, which started a little more than 100 years after Decorah did.
Nordic Fest brought all the great pieces of Decorah's beauty and heritage together on an unprecedented scale. It is not possible in a short time frame to fully cover entire history of Decorah. Because of this, the #nordicfest50 history process focuses exclusively on the effort that started in the community in 1966 and resulted in 50 years of last full weekend in July celebration the world has come to know and love: Nordic Fest.
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