The Scandinavian Festival is a major event that takes place at California Lutheran University annually. The festival not only attracts students on campus, but also people from the Thousand Oaks community and beyond.

It will take place in Kingsmen Park on April 5 and 6 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission to the event is $8 for adults, $4 for teenagers and free for children.

The Scandinavian Festival, or Scandi Fest as it is best known to students, includes vendors that sell Scandinavian souvenirs and gifts as well as traditional Scandinavian food.

This event will be Southern California’s 40th Scandinavian Festival and will offer a wide variety of activities to try.

Festival-goers can try different foods from the Scandinavian culture, witness musical performances, dress up in Viking costumes for a photo-shoot and make memories with family and friends.

“The festival celebrates the food, crafts, arts, traditions and current life of the Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the Saami people from the Arctic regions of Scandinavia,” according to the festival’s website.

Students at CLU find it easy to attend the Scandinavian Festival since it is located in the center of campus.

Senior Natalie Bullock has been going to the festival every year since her freshman year. After participating in the activities for the past three years, Bullock has tons of stories and memories to share with family and friends.

“My friend Chantal White brought a little dog that we found on a run and we dressed him up into the Scandinavian costumes and took a bunch of pictures,” Bullock said.

This year Bullock is going because she loves trying the foreign food and being in the festival atmosphere. She also finds the different cultures involved and the way they are represented to be very interesting.

The Scandinavian Festival features multiple performers and entertainers. There will be more than eight different performers this year and a lot of them will be returning from last year’s festival.

Norwegian folk singers, Scandinavian story tellers, Swedish pianists and CLU student musicians are just some of the performers that will be at the festival.

Sophomore Haley Ramos always anticipates the story tellers and remembers them as her favorite memory from previous years. Aside from the stories, this year Ramos looks forward to all the different activities.

“The different crafts and activities, cultural displays and the food are the best,” Ramos said. “The entire weekend has good energy and is just an all-around good experience for people of all ages.”

Ryan Perez
Staff Writer
Published April 2, 2014