Jessica Ackerman

Minot

This year is the 44th Norsk Hostfest. Chester Reiten had a dream for Hostfest, and the community helped make it possible. Volunteers united to make sure the rommegrot was stirred, the ice cream scooped, and tables cleared between diners for more than 40 years. All of us should be proud knowing we made North America’s largest Scandinavian festival possible by working together. This celebration is for all of us, and events like Hostfest would be impossible without loyal volunteers from our community.

My passion for Minot and seizing opportunities to celebrate it are two of the reasons I volunteer for the Hostfest. As this year’s board president, I invite you to enjoy the 44th Hostfest whether through a general festival admission ticket or as a volunteer.

Here are a few things that I’m most looking forward to:

1) Scandinavian hand pies! I can’t wait to get my hands on one of these delights from Sweet Prairie Chocolates. Esther Donohue, a Le Cordon Bleu graduate, will help satisfy both sweet and savory palettes with flavors like lingenberry, lihapiirakka (Finnish meat), and matpajer (meat pies). I’m looking forward to enjoying an eplepai (Norwegian apple) hand pie as I wander through the festival.

2) I plan to wash that hand pie down with a taste of Big Lost Meadery’s Flathead Warrior, a mead made from Montana’s Flathead cherries and Wyoming’s clover honey. The Viking vibes may be so strong that I’ll have to bring a bottle home to enjoy in one of Big Lost’s signature horn mugs.

3) On Saturday, visitors are in for a special performance — one I know I won’t miss. The Oslo Chamber Choir, Norway’s premier vocal ensemble, kicks off its North American tour at Hostfest. The chamber choir redefines traditional hymns while presenting original interpretations of Norwegian folk music.

I hope you’ll join me in celebrating our community at Hostfest 44 in traditional and new ways Sept. 27-30.