Iceland’s Other Costume Day: When Children Sing for Candy
At Smáralind shopping centre in Kópavogur, children were invited to arrive in costume on February 18, 2026, and sing to shop staff for candy.
Fastelavn: Denmark’s Costume Holiday That Isn’t Halloween
In the 1940s, children gathered in the courtyard of a workers’ housing association in Vejle, Denmark, for Fastelavn barrel striking.
Kekri: When Finland’s Farming Year Came to an End
“Köyriä vai uunia?” — “Kekri or the stove?” That was the question visitors might put to a farm household in the Kuopio countryside when the autumn festival came around. According to a local recollection collected in 1936, they expected food or drink and threatened a broken stove if their hosts refused.
Why Sweden’s Cemeteries Glow with Candles on All Saints’ Day
In the late nineteenth century, when candles began appearing on graves in some Swedish towns, they were more likely to be lit at Christmas than in November. Some of the recorded examples were at children’s graves.
The Mara: The Nordic Creature Behind Your Nightmares
In the medieval Icelandic Ynglinga saga, King Vanlandi has been asleep only a short time when he cries out that a mara is treading on him.
How Halloween Took Hold in the Nordic Countries
On November 1, 1992, the Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende reported on costumed children carving pumpkins at a restaurant in Hellerup, outside Copenhagen.
Marketing the Last Best West
In a Canadian advertisement reproduced from the Christmas 1907 edition of the Toronto Globe, the Prairies appear beneath the words “The Last Best West.” Grain fields, farm buildings and cattle accompany promises of “illimitable opportunities” and “healthy happy homes.”
The Red Finns of King George
In August 1924, the Finnish-language newspaper Canadan Uutiset carried a report from Strongfield, Saskatchewan, about a dispute over a library.
The Winter Candle
Before the candles could be dipped, everyone at Överby parsonage had work to do.
Edvard Ström spent part of his childhood there, on Sweden’s west coast, between 1814 and 1825. In recollections recorded late in the nineteenth century and published by Bohusläns Museum, he remembered the household twisting cotton and tow yarn into wicks while his aunt Anna Lisa prepared for candle making. A tall copper vessel was carried into the servants’ room, wrapped in blankets and mats to retain its heat, more than half-filled with boiling water and topped with melted tallow.
How New Iceland Governed Itself
By the time Lord Dufferin left Gimli in September 1877, New Iceland had already spent months governing many of its local affairs under rules its residents had adopted themselves.
New Finland, Saskatchewan
In 1888, David — or Taavetti — Kautonen registered a 160-acre quarter-section northeast of Whitewood, in the District of Assiniboia in what was then the North-West Territories. His claim, SW-36-17-1-W2, placed him within the Dominion survey grid that was reshaping the geography of settlement across the Prairies.
When Green Energy Comes to Sápmi
By the time Norway’s Supreme Court ruled on the wind farms at Fosen, the turbines were already standing.
Unity Hall and the Finnish Young People’s Society Near Sylvan Lake
A 1925 photograph shows a Finnish church group gathered outside Unity Hall, a white-sided building in the countryside west of Sylvan Lake. The hall was only about a year old when the photograph was taken, but it was already serving several parts of Finnish community life, from church gatherings to dances, meetings and plays.
Red Deer’s Oldest Restaurants
The windmill on The Donut Mill has marked a Highway 2 stopping place since the spring of 1994. Next door, Glenn’s Family Restaurant has served travellers since January 28, 1986. George’s Pizza & Steakhouse predates both, opening in Red Deer in 1978.
Winnipeg’s Oldest Restaurants
At Oscar’s Deli, corned beef is still stacked between slices of Winnipeg rye in a business that began on Main Street in 1929. Two years later, Salisbury House opened an all-night café with ten counter seats on Fort Street. Neither original room survives, but both names remain in use.
Talkoot: The Finnish Tradition of Community Work
The beams are too heavy for one family to lift. The roof cannot be finished before winter comes. Livestock will need shelter before the snow arrives. Waiting until enough money has been saved to hire workers means it might never be finished.
Can Hygge Survive a Cost-of-Living Crisis?
Hygge became easy to recognize once retailers learned how to sell it.
The familiar version usually includes candles, pale ceramics and a blanket folded over the arm of an immaculate couch. A tray holds two matching mugs. Nothing appears worn, borrowed or slightly out of place.
Kuusamo, Alberta: The Finnish Farming District Near Sylvan Lake
The Canadian Geographical Names Database places Kuusamo at 5-26-38-2-W5, approximately six kilometres southwest of Sylvan Lake. Alberta’s provincial place-name history says the surrounding area was originally settled by Finns and connects the name with Kuusamo School District No. 755.
Can You Inherit a Culture You Weren’t Raised In?
I grew up in Alberta with a Nordic connection already present in my family. My maternal adoptive grandmother was of entirely Norwegian ancestry, while her husband, my adoptive grandfather, was of entirely Finnish ancestry.