This weekend the Scandinavian Heritage Association is hosting its annual Midsummer Festival at the Shirley Bicentennial Park, also known as the Scandinavian Heritage Park, from Friday, June 19, through Saturday, June 20. Traditionally, the Midsummer Festival is held around the time of the summer solstice and celebrates the ushering in of new light after a long, dark winter.

This week, secretary of the Scandinavian Heritage Association (SHA), Kae Watson, and the treasurer of SHA, Sue Weston, have been working double time to make sure all their ducks are in a row for the jam-packed weekend of festivities.

Watson and Weston said this celebration is a labor of love, and part of what makes it unique is the purpose isn’t to raise money. It’s purely to recognize and share their heritage.

“This isn’t a fundraiser for the Scandinavian Heritage Association. It truly is a gift from our organization to the people of Minot. We get to celebrate our heritage which goes back 1,000 years – all the way to the Vikings,” Watson said.

Friday is Heritage Night, which opens the celebration with a flag ceremony. Volunteers walk in a parade that features the flags of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland as the Heritage Park is the only park in the world that honors all five Nordic countries.

The parade will be led by a true Viking, whose lineage runs all the way back to Rollo “The Walker,” a Viking warrior who became the first ruler of Normandy. The blow of a Viking horn will also be heard at the start of the celebration. Watson said the horn was found in the office of Chester Reiten, a Minot man who celebrated the strong Scandinavian heritage of the Minot area and brought Norsk Hostfest to fruition.

“The true moment of the flag ceremony isn’t the Scandinavian flags. It’s when the Air Force Honor Guard comes down and stands in front of all of us,” Watson said. “I always choke up at that point. I truly believe no matter who you are, you should be proud of your heritage.”

Weather permitting, the iconic bonfire will make a return on both Friday and Saturday nights at 9 p.m. to close out both night’s activities.

“Sue is working with the fire department. There’s nothing like the Burlington Fire Department to build your bonfire. … The city is more comfortable when we have professionals,” Watson said.

This year the association is also moving the location of the beer gardens to the Nordic Pavilion, which hosts the Swedish fika and seven bites from 9 a.m.-noon. Watson joked her job description reads “other duties as needed” so festival-goers might see her balancing on a stool to get string lights set up in time to start serving beer.

Watson and Weston said they love how well the festival features the park.

“People really do respect this park. They love this park in Minot. Imagine having thousands of people visit for Midsummer, but there’s no garbage laying around like you can get at other festivals. People are so respectful because they love this park,” Watson said.

The third annual National AFLAC Surstromming Eating Contest will be held on Saturday at 6:30 p.m., which Watson said was a highlight of hers.

Watson said she’s been asked if Surstromming tastes as bad as lutefisk, to which she responds, “No, it’s worse. It’s so worth it just to see the people’s reactions when the can gets cracked open. … It smells like dead people.”

Surstromming is a Swedish product. It is cod caught between March and June in the Baltic Sea and fermented. The unique feature of surstromming, however, is its ability to continue fermenting in its cans, which are designed to bloat.

The extensive fermenting process leaves behind a can of slimy, stringy brown fish that drip.

“We learned you don’t order your fish too early because it continues to ferment. Eventually there’s no fish anymore, just liquid,” Weston said.

Five contestants are pulled from the audience, and the goal is to see who can last the longest, not who can finish the whole can.

“We don’t want to hurt people,” Weston joked.

Another cherished activity of the festival is dancing around the Midsummer pole. The Royal Rebel Cheerleaders will encourage adults and children alike to take part in the frog dance. Watson said since the Rebels joined the fun, more people have started participating.

Watson said instead of the association reaching out to the Rebels, the Rebels reached out to see if they could participate.

“They’re one of those groups that make Minot who we are,” she said.

With the festival being so jam-packed with events, including 15 accordion players, lefsa making, the Finnish sauna, the Heart of Dakota Cloggers, vendors, live musicians, children’s games and entertainment, and much more, it was difficult to get everything on the schedule.

“We could barely fit in ABBA hour,” Watson said.

As the Midsummer Festival grows and the SHA plans for the future of the Heritage Park, this will be the final celebration featuring the park’s iconic orange Dala horse. After holding up through 25 brutal North Dakota winters, Watson said there are some structural issues they’re not able to repair.

SHA is currently working with engineers on a solution. A larger, new Dala horse will, hopefully, take its place by the next festival. Watson said they’re still working on fundraising, but they did receive a grant from the North Dakota Commerce Department to aid the project.

“I like to tell little kids that when you rub its tummy it brings you good luck,” Watson said as she reminisced on the 25 years the Dala horse stood over the park.

As passionate as Watson and Weston are about the preservation of the park, Weston said the visitors are too.

“It is an amazing mission we have in Minot. I don’t think people really realize all that it takes to keep this park going. Last year we had visitors from 33 countries, all 50 states and all the Canadian provinces. When I ask what they’re doing in Minot, they say, ‘We came to see the park.'”

With the upcoming festival about to start, both women said they are excited to share their heritage with the Minot community in an accessible, fun and honoring way.

“This is all free,” Watson said. “This truly is a gift to Minot.”