On the 17th of May every year Norway celebrates their National Day. Everyone is out in force wearing either their traditional clothes (bunad) or just a very nice suit. There are lots of parades walking through town all day containing school kids, marching bands & the various clubs that are present in town. There are plenty of food stalls around selling the traditional pølse (hotdog) as well as copious amounts of fairy floss and ice cream.
Luckily for me, this National Day was one of the best they’ve had in years. It was bright and sunny all day (roughly 23 hours of sunlight) and hit a balmy 20°C! Needless to say everyone was sweating and cursing the hot weather!
The first few parades going through town were full of school kids from the various schools in this district. After the children’s parade we saw one full of marching bands all playing music. The next parade was of the high school graduates for this year. They all held various signs saying something witty or just funny slogans (mainly in Norwegian of course so I had to ask for a translation). The final parade in town is called the “People’s Parade”, which is led by the current mayor of Tromsø, and it is made up of all the clubs, police and fireman as well as any other associations in town. There are marching bands throughout it playing their songs too.
Overall a great day to be outside in the Arctic and to experience a cultural festival like this. Met a whole bunch of nice new people who were only glad to tell me about Norway, especially on this day.
My Nordic Life 
Hey Josh looks like a fab day out in Tromso. Looking forward to seeing more of the town over the next few days!