Petersburg’s Little Norway Festival kicked off Wednesday, May 13 and runs through Monday this year, with six days of music, fun, food and celebration of the community’s Norwegian heritage.

Traffic is closed down on main street in Petersburg Friday and Saturday as vendors and food booths line the street. The festival parade is Friday May 15th at 4 p.m. and the pageant is the following day at 3 p.m.

“It’s just celebrating our Norwegian heritage and the coming of spring, Armed Forces Day, Syttende Mai, the date that the Norwegian constitution was signed in 1814,” said Janet Holten, the chair of the committee that organizes the annual event around May 17th.
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This year’s festival includes a reunion for Petersburg high school classes between 1956 and 1973. There’s an annual softball tournament, a melodrama, a Norwegian style show and a competition to toss herring, along with lots of music and food. Governor Bill Walker is expected to attend the dedication of Petersburg’s new drive down dock on Saturday.

And of course, fur-clad Vikings and Valkyries are roaming the streets throughout the weekend, making sure people are enjoying themselves.