Last winter my husband and I discovered Norskedalen Nature and Heritage Center when we went on a candlelight walk on the grounds. We've lived in this area since 1998 and it never ceases to amaze me all the new places we have yet to discover! We enjoyed the grounds of our candlelight walk so much, we vowed to come back in the summer and fall. This time, we came for their Midsummer Fest and we brought the whole family!
"Norskedalen" means "the Norwegian valley". It is a nature and heritage center dedicated to preserving, interpreting, and sharing the natural environment and cultural heritage of the area surrounding Coon Valley in southwest Wisconsin.
The Midsummer Festival is an annual summer solstice event that celebrates Norwegian heritage, long summer days, and pioneer life. There are live demonstrations of black smithing, butter churning, and more plus Folk Art showcasing Rosemaling, embroidery, and wood carving. All the original homes are open and available for tours plus there is lot of family fun like pony rides, crafts, and horse drawn carriages. There are also competitions like the USS Viking Strongman Competition.
The first thing we did when we arrived at Norskedalen was head over to the Strongman Competion because we knew the boys would enjoy watching that! This event lasts all day so we couldn't stay to see everything (although that would have been fun), but we did watch a bit of the weight lifting and hammer throw.
Atticus got such a kick out of the size of this shield!
The Benrud Chapel was near the Strongman Competition so we headed there next. It was built in 1886 and served the Norwegian immigrant population of Sparta, Wisconsin.
We were so happy to be able to go inside and see the simple beauty of this church but we were also blessed to hear Eden Ehm, a Hardanger Fiddler. Here's a brief video to give you a sampling of her music:
After all the children had their donkey rides, we headed over to the Homestead. The first home we toured was this sweet little cabin.
I couldn't believe how small this cabin was on the inside. The lower level consisted of just a table and wood stove. Somehow, the parents slept down here too. It felt claustrophobic with just our family and the tour guide inside, I can't even imagine a large family living here, but they did!
On the other side of the room was a ladder leading to the loft where the children slept.
This is the loft. They most likely didn't have beds and slept on the floor.
After our first cabin tour we headed over for a Norwegian lunch of open-faced sandwiches, buttered leafs, copper pennies, sweet corn, and strawberry shortcake.
While the adults were still eating, the oldest three grandkids and I headed over to the kids craft area to make Norwegian paper hearts.
Now it was time for a horse and wagon ride! I couldn't believe what a nice, long ride this was. They took us all around the homestead, plus out to the countryside for a bit to see High Hopes Spring.
Here is the natural spring.
The countryside was so beautiful!
Atticus was excited to sit up front and hold the horse's reigns!
Baby Lazarus was happy just to sit near grandpa!
After the horse and wagon ride, we headed back over to the historic Bekkem Homestead where there were lots of demonstrations going on. Below, Alethea is learning how to spin yarn into socks!
The Bekkum Homestead seeks to recreate a typical Norwegian immigrant farm at the turn of the 20th century. The homestead consists of a two-story house, summer kitchen, spring house, corn crib, granary, outhouse, chicken coop, machine shed, tobacco shed, stable, barn, and blacksmith’s shop. The buildings are arranged in the traditional Norwegian shape called a ‘tun’ and filled with artifacts donated by local families.
It was in 1982 that original log and timber buildings began to be moved to Norskedalen from neighboring farms in an effort to preserve and restore them. This effort was accomplished through the support of Owen and Dorothy Bekkum and through the work of volunteers who put countless hours into restoring each of the historic buildings (according to the Norskedalen website).
I was excited to tour the two story house which was not open when I was here in the winter for the candlelight walk.
Out on the back porch, Alethea learned how hard it was to churn butter.
Unlike the first cabin we toured, this one was much more livable. I even said "I could live in this today!" because I loved it so much.
The tour guide explained to me that the living room was added on years later as the family grew and prepared. The original house was just the kitchen (which you can see in the background and the photos above) and a loft. The layout was very similar to the smaller cabin we toured earlier in the day.
Next we spent some time touring all the outbuildings. The first one is the Summer Kitchen.
The Stable
The Machine Shed
Looking back at all the different farm buildings with the green hills surrounding them; so pretty.
The festival also had a museum, more musicians, dancers, a steel drum band, and a Kubb playing area, but many events were taking place at the same time and it was hard to see everything. We absolutely loved our day at the festival but we wished the events were spread out throughout the day more so we could see everything.
Before we left, Alethea wanted to do something she called "Creek Stomping"; it was her own event and title she created when she saw the creek on our horse and wagon ride 😂.
All the grandkids got into "Creek Stomping".
I hope you enjoyed my visit to the Norskedalen Midsummer Festival!
Have A Great Day! Amy
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