Ólavsøka
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Ólavsøka | |
---|---|
Faroese chain dancing | |
Date | 28–29 July |
Frequency | annual |
Ólavsøka is the biggest summer festival in the
Ólavsøka is a cultural and sports festival with boat races, football matches and other events. The 28 July, which is the day where the finals of the rowing competitions take place, is half working day for the members of some of the labour unions while Saint Olaf's Day (Ólavsøkudagur) on 29 July is full holiday for members of most of the unions.[2][3]
The literal meaning is "Olaf's vigil" (vigilia sancti Olavi in
Ólavsøka is the day of the year when many Faroese crowd into the capital
The salute for ólavsøka in Faroese is Góða ólavsøku! (Good Olaf's Wake!).
The stamps shown on the right were issued by
Concert, 27 July
Some of the festivities start some days before, depending on which day in the week Ólavsøka falls. There is usually also an Ólavsøka concert in Tórshavn on 27 July in the evening.[4] In recent years, however, the concert has not been held. Instead, the one-day festival Tórsfest has been held in Tórshavn the weekend before ólavsøka.
Procession and opening, 28 July
Normally the opening of Ólavsøka starts with a procession of sports people from Tórshavn, city council members, a brass band and people riding on horses. They walk in procession from the public school (Kommunuskúlin) down to the centre of town to Tinghúsvøllur on Vaglið, where people are waiting for the procession to arrive. The people who walk in procession then gather on the triangle-shaped Tinghúsvøllur in front of the parliament building (Løgtingshúsið og Tinghúsið), there will be a speech by someone who is appointed, and this person will officially open the Ólavsøka. A brass band normally plays at the opening.
Boat race, 28 July
The Ólavsøka Boat Race is always held on the eve of ólavsøka on 28 July. Before the Ólavsøka festival there have been several other village festivals around the islands, called
Procession and cantata, 29 July
On 29 July the Faroese Løgting will open again after the summer holiday. The Faroese Prime Minister (Løgmaður) will give his speech, and the politicians will have the opportunity to comment on it the following days. But before the opening of the Løgting, there is a ceremony, which starts just before 11:00 in the morning, where the Faroese priests, the members of the Faroese Parliament, the head of the Police, some Danish officials and some other important people will walk in procession to Tórshavn Cathedral (Dómkirkjan, earlier called Havnar Kirkja).
After the service in the church these people will walk in procession to the House of Parliament (Tinghúsið). They will line up just outside the Tinghús facing the crowd of people who are standing around the Tinghúsvøllur. And then it is time for some classical music and choir music, the Olavsoka Cantata, which starts at 12:00 or just after. 2009 was the 100th year birthday of the Municipality of Tórshavn. One of the most famous Faroese composers
See also
References
- ^ "What is Ólavsøka?". faroeislands.fo. July 7, 2016. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
- ^ Industry.fo, Frídagar um ólavsøkuna Archived 2014-05-05 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Nordlysid.fo Archived 2014-12-23 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Tíðindi - Tórshavnar kommuna". torshavn.fo. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
- ^ "Tiltøk - Tórshavnar kommuna". torshavn.fo. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
- ^ "Thomsd Hansen Kingo". hymntime.com. Retrieved September 1, 2017.