Ólavsøka 2018, the national holiday of the Faroe Islands

For years, I’ve wanted to attend the celebrations of Ólavsøka, the national holiday of the Faroe Islands that falls on July 27th-29th. But I’ve always been too busy during July with work, excavations and other travels, so I never got around to going there for the festivities. But this year was going to be different. Amanda and I planned our summer trip to the Faroe Islands around Ólavsøka, so we wouldn’t miss it. It took me going to the Faroe islands nine times to experience it – nine times!

We were in Tórshavn, the capital city, during Ólavsøka from the afternoon of July 27th to the early hours of July 30th, and we were able to stay at my friend Andras’ family’s house during the entire weekend. It was lovely to have a home base with his wonderful family who I also stayed with back in April.

On the Friday, the big event of the day was Faroe Pride, a celebration of diversity and equality which we actually found by accident while roaming the streets of Tórshavn. We decided to join in on the parade and show ourselves as allies. All the love and support that the LGBTQA+ community got on that day brought tears to my eyes. It’s simply wonderful to see so many people joining in and clapping and waving from the sidelines, because life is about loving and accepting one another for who we are, no matter who or what we are.

We ran into our friends Katrine, Poul Magni and Ata during the parade, and in the evening, we all went out to party at Glitnir, my favourite bar in the city!

Saturday came and the national celebrations officially began at 2 PM with a fun ceremony with music and speeches. Later on, we spent hours watching the yearly Ólavsøka Boat Race, where people come from all parts of the country to compete, rowing a distance of approximately 1 km.

It was a lot of fun to watch despite standing in the cold for four hours and not knowing the rules… And I still don’t know! The atmosphere was great and I especially loved looking at all the national costumes, which are worn by most locals during Ólavsøka.

In the evening, Andras held a grill party in the garden with friends and family, and later on, we hit the bars again. It was an experience to go out in Tórshavn during Ólavsøka, where half of the population of the Faroe Islands is gathered. There was such a great atmosphere and I met so many friends that evening. It was starting to feel a lot like home to me.

The next day was St. Olaf’s day, where the life of Olaf Haraldsson II, an 11th century Norwegian king who contributed to the Christianisation of the Faroe Islands, is celebrated. The entire weekend of festivities culminates at midnight on that day with Midnáttarsangur (‘midnight song’) and Faroese chain dancing. This was the part of Ólavsøka that I was looking forward to the most!

Since there wasn’t any events that we wanted to join during the day, Amanda and I spent that time exploring the national museum, which I visited for the first time ever (I know right!!) and then went down to the open air museum in Hoyvík in pouring rain. Despite the weather, the museum was fun to see and experience, and I can recommend it if you’re interested in the history of the country!

Afterwards, we decided to head back to the center to grab some food at Cirkus before going on a little adventure to Sloan’s House, the home of the Friendship Association between the Faroe Islands and Israel. We didn’t know what to expect there, and we were surprised to learn that they were of the Church Association for the Inner Mission. Despite being forced to sit through a long lecture, it was interesting to learn about one of the smaller Christian communities in the country. Also, we got free coffee and cake, so who can complain!

We then decided we would go back home to Andras’ place to rest for a while before the big midnight celebrations, but we never got that far. We were standing by the harbour watching people dance to traditional Faroese music when Petur Sigurd, one of my Faroese brothers, saw us and invited us to visit Rigmor, Jens and Karstin Otto on their family boat. I’d wanted Amanda to meet this family as they are great, but I wasn’t sure we’d have time before she was to leave the country, so it worked out perfectly!

Back with Andras and his family, it was finally time to head down to the city for the big celebrations! First, they took us to the yearly tombola, where Andras’ niece Lea won a ton of prizes, before we headed down to the city center along with some of Andras’ friends. Thousands and thousands of people were gathered there; people came from all over the Faroe Islands and many other countries to join in on the festivities and celebrate the beautiful nation.

We actually managed to find a great spot where we could stand on a platform and see everything! The midnight singing went on for an hour and despite not knowing any of the songs, we really enjoyed listening to it and experiencing the special atmosphere that is created when half of the country is united and dressed in their national costume.

All of a sudden, everyone broke into dance, the traditional Faroese chain dancing (one step to the right, two steps to the left). Amanda and I wanted to join in, so we found a good crowd and asked to join, and despite us not being able go follow the steps (I mean, how easy were they….?), we had a lot of fun with our new friends!

After the dancing most people went out to party, but because we had to leave early the next day for another adventure, we had to head home to get a few hours of sleep.

Experiencing Ólavsøka was truly someting extraordinary, an experience that I’ll always cherish! Hopefully it won’t be my last time!