Legacy Arts and Cultural Heritage
ACHF Arts Access ACHF Cultural Heritage
Our goal for the Nordic Culture Clubs and this project is to perpetuate, enrich and educate the community about different Scandinavian heritage groups by partnering with the 6 local Scandinavian groups (Red River Danes, Red River Finns, Fargo-Moorhead Icelandic Klub, Sons of Norway, Swedish Heritage Society and the Saami Circle). By presenting a professional high-quality artists and performances that represent both old and new world Scandinavian heritage. The funding from this project will support the overall festival goals. The overall project includes artists, musicians, educators/presentations, children’s activities and traditional cuisine for the attendees to experience and celebrate the culture and heritage of Scandinavia. Involving the audience and maximizing their sensory experience will in-turn create a more meaningful encounter with Scandinavian culture, traditions, and heritage.We used surveys of the attendees to better understand the impact of the festival on arts, culture, and their overall impressions. We also took the time to understand how people heard about the festival and their motives for coming to such an event including their geographical location.
This year, we were able to continue our efforts in expanding our outreach and making this festival more regional, creating a draw to the Fargo-Moorhead area. Although our information does reflect that festival is primarily a local festival, we are seeing an increase in regional draw over time. Many of our vendors and performers traveled a further distance to take part in this festival coming from Canada, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, and some as far as California. Our overall numbers of festival participants increased by almost one thousand individuals, we have reached many individuals that were new to the festival as well as the Hjemkomst Center. Word of mouth and the newspapers appear to be the most common forms of retaining information, but we have also made considerable increases in our online presence for both the Nordic Culture Club and Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County.
Other, local or private