With the temperature at a sweltering 88 degrees, half of Ballard turned out for the annual Norwegian Constitution Day Parade, also known as Syttende Mai.
The spots in the shade were the most popular, of course, with people arriving well before the parade to stake out a spot. We took our position in front of Cafe Besalu on 24th. Over on Market, there were even more people.
After the police drill team cleared the street, the Ballard High School marching band led the way down the center of 24th.
As is tradition, many parade participants wore folk clothing called “bunader” that reflect their respective regions of origin.
This guy, unbelievably, was wearing his Norwegian sweater in the heat.
The cutest costumes, of course, were those worn by the kids.
And the most popular part of the parade for the kids was the Shriners fire truck, which sprayed water into the crowd.
Oh, and the bags of bags of candy tossed on the ground. These little guys must have scored more candy than Halloween.
We have to admit, we’ve never seen so many unicyclists in one place. At least four different schools featured ‘em (which explains why we kept seeing one of our neighbor kids practicing on his unicycle the last few days.)
All in all, the parade was a big hit, and everyone seemed to enjoy it despite the heat. More photos below, and our 3-minute video clip of the parade is here. And check out more pics from Seattle Daily Photo.
My Ballard
A news blog for Seattle's Ballard neighborhood and beyond
Thousands watch Ballard parade in record heat
May 17th, 2008 · 5 Comments
Tags: Ballard
5 responses so far ↓
1 M // May 17, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Absolutely fabulous - the only thing I’ll be nitpicky about is that they’re not costumes, but traditional garb. Thank you so much for the wonderful photos. It was a great afternoon!!
2 Cathy // May 17, 2008 at 9:13 pm
I felt bad for the kids from Ballard High’s Maritime Academy, sweating it out in their survival suits! Some years, those would be great, but this year…
3 Jasmine // May 18, 2008 at 6:57 am
M- here are the first two definitions of costume:
1. a style of dress, including accessories and hairdos, esp. that peculiar to a nation, region, group, or historical period.
2. dress or garb characteristic of another period, place, person, etc., as worn on the stage or at balls.
I’d say the parade participants wearing traditional Norwegian outfits were in costumes.
Geeks - Thanks for the great photos and video. You captured the spirit of the parade!
4 Mazz // May 18, 2008 at 8:36 am
The guy on the zamboni was actually grilling hot dogs, drinking and smoking a stogie. It was a site to see.
5 silver // May 20, 2008 at 9:09 pm
Those guys in the viking boat behind the white pickup truck - I could swear I saw them rowing towards the locks from out by Ray’s Boathouse the other day. Minus the pickup.
Last week I was on the new section of the BG trail, looking out at the water from one of the viewpoints, and I saw this strange looking vessel approaching the locks with men at oars!
Now I know where they were headed!
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