FAQS
Welcome! Below are the answers to the most frequently asked questions about the Junction City Scandinavian Festival. Still have questions? Please reach out to us via the contact page.
General Festival Questions
The Festival is always the second Thursday-Sunday in August.
The Festival is a four day long event and each day honors one of these four countries: Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. The days rotate each year. Look to the events calendar for days assigned this coming year.
Here on our site is a great way to find out what your need to know. Check out our blog for year specific performances and the daily schedule. If you have more questions, contact through our contact page. During the Festival our Windmill (in the center of 6th and Greenwood) will have plenty of details and information.
The Scandinavian Festival runs 10am-10pm Thursday through Saturday, and 10am-8pm on Sunday. Note for Vendors: All booths must remain open during all Festival hours. If you’d like, you may open early, or stay open late for the community dance crowd.
Visit our Costume Guide for requirements and resources. Questions? Please feel free to reach out.
We release a new application (with new essay questions) every year. If you don’t see a link to the application on the scholarship page, it’s because we haven’t released this year’s edition yet. You’re welcome to email us for info.
You can either make or buy one. We offer resources to help you either way; take a look at our Costume Guide to get started. We may be able to help with costuming, but we must be aware of it before the events.
Parking is free if you park anywhere on the open streets outside of the Festival’s barriers. This is first come first served. If you prefer not to search for a space, there is also paid parking in the parking lot of Bi-Mart in Junction City. It’s usually under $10 for a full day (come and go as many times as you’d like) and benefits local Girl Scout troops.
Please do not bring your pets (dogs, cats, birds, etc) to Festival. The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) prohibits pets in food establishments, including in and around mobile food units (food carts) such as those our vendors use. If you’d like to research why, check out OHA 333-150-0000 for more information.
Service animals, of course, are allowed. The ADA defines service animals as animals that are trained to perform tasks for people living with disabilities.
For example, a few common tasks that service dogs may perform for their owners include pulling a wheelchair, alerting a person to sights or sounds, helping with balance, providing assistance during a seizure, pressing buttons, and picking up dropped items.
According to ADA rules, there are two questions that an establishment is allowed to ask you about your service dog: 1) is your animal required due to a disability, and 2) which tasks is your animal trained to perform. Whenever you take your service dog to a place where animals are normally not permitted, you may be asked one or both questions.
Please note, emotional support animals are not considered service animals under the ADA, and are not included in that exemption. We love our pets, and support animals mean a great deal to us, but the Oregon Health Authority does not make an exception for these companions.
Thank you for asking for clarification and we hope to see you at the Festival!
Yes, if you’ve lost something (or someone!) please check in at the Windmill, which is located in the center of our grounds at 6th and Greenwood. Our policy is to keep found items for a maximum of twelve months; after that, we donate any unclaimed items to charity.
We have flushing bathrooms in the building to the South of Festival Park Stage and portable toilets in most alleyways.
Vendor Questions
The Festival is always the second Thursday-Sunday in August.
Our Festival runs a 12-hour day, and all booths are required to stay open for the duration. It helps to have somebody working your booth with you, so you can take the day in shifts and schedule breaks.
Also, August is a hot month. Your liaison will check in with you every day, throughout the day, to keep tabs on your needs and help address any issues you might face.
Finally, our costume and booth standards set a high bar; please reach out if you need any advice or support. Our online costume guide has all our policies as well as some helpful resources for your reference. If you have any concerns about your booth, let us know as early as possible: we want to partner with you to make your booth a success.
When jurying new products, we give priority to a) local, b) handmade, and c) Scandinavian-themed offerings. These are separate categories: not every product fits all three, and that’s okay.
We deeply appreciate our returning vendors and do our best to take care of them; for that reason, when jurying new vendors, we’re careful to select products that don’t overlap with those that are already well represented at Festival. This contributes to a good experience for our guests, as well.
That said, when in doubt — try us! We’d love to hear from you and chat about whether your offerings would be a good fit for us at this time.
We charge a booth entry fee, the fee depends on the size and type of your booth. Booths that meet our highest standards of presentation receive a $100 authenticity discount on their booth fee.
Our gross sales fee is 10% for local nonprofits that have a volunteerism agreement with us, and 12% for all other vendors.
We ask that all vendors who are required to jury do so in person, because we want to be able to dialogue with you and ask questions in real time while interacting with your product just as our guests will. That said, if you’re located out of state or you face extenuating circumstances, you’re welcome to request a remote session.
You’ll need to provide us with proof of insurance in the amount of $2 million, in which the Scandinavian Festival Association (SFA) and the City of Junction City are named as additional insureds.
We see 100,000 guests each year, according to the travel publication Eugene, Cascades & Coast.
Visit our Costume Guide for requirements and resources. Questions? Please feel free to reach out.
Performer Information
Visit our Costume Guide for requirements and resources. Questions? Please feel free to reach out.
There’s a water fountain on site, but we encourage you to bring a water bottle of your own, and maybe a snack to keep your dancer going. Parents and guardians may also want to bring a chair or blanket to sit on during the children’s practice time.
You can either make or buy one. We offer resources to help you either way; take a look at our Costume Guide to get started. We may be able to help with costuming, but we must be aware of it before the events.
That’s great! We’re excited to hear more about what you’d like to perform at the Scandinavian Festival. Please contact our Programming Chairperson to find out how to sign up to be a part of our next Festival.
If you’re looking to join one of the groups that performs during the Scandinavian Festival, check out the Dance or Entertainment sections under the About tab to get more information.
While we do prefer to fill our schedule with Scandinavian themed performances, especially from the 19th century, it is not a requirement. We’ve had performances from other cultures including Ukrainian, Estonian, and German. If you’re not certain if you’ll be a good fit, contact our Programming Chairperson.
The group’s director will receive an email from our Programming Chairperson with your performance dates and times once all requested paperwork is turned in. If this paperwork isn’t turned in, we are not able to give you or your group time slots so this may be the reason why you haven’t yet gotten your schedule. Direct all your scheduling questions to your group’s director first, if applicable.
The easy answer is yes, but it is a little more than that. If you are doing a Scandinavian or generic performance, then yes, you will need to wear a Scandinavian Costume. If you are performing from another culture, it is acceptable (and encouraged) to wear correlating costuming. When you are chatting with our Programming Chairperson, you will get the exact answer for what you’ll need to wear.
The Scandinavian Festival has had many types of performances over the years and we are always looking for more and varied types. Of course we have always had dance and musical groups and love those dearly. We also love demonstration type performances and have had cooking, costume, language, and garden demonstrations. We even had a fjord horse shown once!
We are very open to new and interesting entertainment, so contact us if you think you might be a good fit for our Festival.
Children's Dance
Visit our Costume Guide for requirements and resources. Questions? Please feel free to reach out.
No, it’s free! Please come participate in your community, learn traditional group dances that are hundreds of years old, and benefit from quality, supportive dance instruction. The only thing they will need to perform is a Scandinavian costume. See our Costume Guidelines to find out what sort of outfit they will need.
If you would like to support the Festival, consider signing up to be a Member.
Children as young as three are welcome to dance, as long as they are able to do so without a parent or guardian accompanying them on stage during performances.
You’re welcome to accompany your child onstage for the first couple practices to get them used to group dance. After that, we encourage parents to step offstage to allow their child to participate with other dancers. If a child can’t dance without their parent, we would request they wait and try again next year, as they might not be ready. For the time being, we’re asking only costumed dance instructors to accompany children onstage.
3-5 Years – first 30 minute time slot
Please have them wear closed-toed shoes that will not fall off. The dances can get active, and losing a shoe can lead to people getting hurt. Beyond that, we recommend comfortable clothes that allow free movement without getting too hot.
There’s a water fountain on site, but we encourage you to bring a water bottle of your own, and maybe a snack to keep your dancer going. Parents and guardians may also want to bring a chair or blanket to sit on during the children’s practice time.
You can either make or buy one. We offer resources to help you either way; take a look at our Costume Guide to get started. We may be able to help with costuming, but we must be aware of it before the events.
Volunteers
Jobs for a volunteer can vary. There are so many tasks to take on with a non-profit, we have work for all age and skill levels. Here are a few examples:
Setting up and helping out at cultural events throughout the year.
Setup and teardown of Festival stages and rental booths.
Setting out barrels, tables, benches and chairs for Festival.
Outdoor tasks, including cleanup, painting, and yard work.
We could also use help with feeding our crowds of volunteers. If you, or an organization you work with, would like to provide a meal, please reach out and let us know!
If you’re helping with a physical task like setup or teardown, please bring tools appropriate to the job, as well as any relevant safety equipment, if you can. If you do borrow something while you’re on task, ask the owner first and let them know when you’ve returned it. If you need to borrow something from our shop, put it back where you found it when you’re done. Water and gloves are almost always needed.
The community or Festival Association will also often provide lunch, though this is not always the case. So if you plan to help duing meal hours, you may want to bring yourself something to eat.
We’ll let you know in advance what type of task you’ll be helping out with, so you’ll have a sense of what type of attire is appropriate. We encourage you to think about safety and dress for the job at hand.
We encourage a family feel, and often have young people helping with volunteer work. Please keep foul language to a minimum and positive attitudes to a maximum. If you are going to be helping with heavy equipment or driving duties, we ask that you not drink alcohol while on the job. We like to have fun and break times are a good way to let loose, but safety should be a top priority. Show up ready to get the job done, be helpful, take initiative, and you’ll do great.
When you show up to volunteer, please check in with your direct contact. That may be our Vice President of Operations, or it may be someone else. We like to keep tabs on who’s on the crew so we can take a head count in case of emergency.
Scholarship Applicants
We release a new application (with new essay questions) every year. If you don’t see a link to the application on the scholarship page, it’s because we haven’t released this year’s edition yet. You’re welcome to email us for info.
Our first suggestion would be to make sure your submission is spelled properly and grammatically correct. You might be surprised to hear it, but sometimes we have to turn down great applicants because the quality of their application shows they’re just not ready.
We strongly recommend having a teacher look over your application before you submit it. They can help you catch and address errors. They may also be able to suggest ways to strengthen the content of your application as well; i.e. make a stronger case for why you should be selected.
Remember: we’re rooting for you! There are many deserving students in our community, and we’re so excited to hear about the great work you’ve been doing. We hope the St. Lucia Scholarship will help you pursue your plans and dreams.
Applicants must have plans to attend a college or trade school within the next school year. They must be available to participate in our Yule Fest Light Parade and Open House in December, as well as in the Opening Ceremonies of the Junction City Scandinavian Festival in August. They must wear a Scandinavian costume to these activities. If applicant does not own a costume, we may be able to help with that but we must be aware of it before the events.
You can either make or buy one. We offer resources to help you either way; take a look at our Costume Guide to get started. We may be able to help with costuming, but we must be aware of it before the events.
Become a Vendor with the Junction City Scandinavian Festival
Sima – A Fermented Flavor of Finland
Scandinavian Christmas Traditions
Become a Vendor with the Junction City Scandinavian Festival
Sima – A Fermented Flavor of Finland
