GENEVA, IL — Come celebrate an authentic Svenskarnas Dag (“Swedish Day”) at Good Templar Park Sunday, June 18, in Geneva. Nestled in the Fox Valley, this gem of a Midsummer fest runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Good Templar Park, 528 East Side Drive, Geneva. Admission is $7, free for children 12 and under, active military (with military ID) and guests in traditional Scandinavian costume.
Besides serving favorite Swedish foods – Ligonberry pancakes, Swedish meatballs, fried herring, cardamon coffee cake, almond tarts, and other American fare – children’s games, wonderful kids craft projects, Blue the Icelandic horse, a viking encampment, cottage walking tours and group dancing around the maypole fill out the day’s events. The park offers plenty of room for your family to sprawl out and have a picnic for your dad on Father’s Day, or simply to enjoy a day in nature.
Friends of the Viking Ship will also be offering tours of the replica-Viking ship that sailed into the 1893 Columbia Exposition from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Viking ship tours happen every 15-20 minutes. Adults 18 and over, $7; children age 23-27, $5; children 12 and under free. Last docent-led tour is at 3:30 p.m.
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Good Templar Park’s Swedish Day is the oldest and longest running ethnic festival in Illinois, traditionally held on the third Sunday in June, which also happens to be Father’s Day. The first Swedish Day picnic and celebration of the summer solstice was held in 1911 in Evanston. The annual picnic attracted thousands from Chicago’s Swedish immigrant community. Looking for a place where they could hold an alcohol-free Midsummer festival, the mostly Swedish members of IOGT, a temperance-focused fraternal organization formed in the 19th century to combat the high rate of alcoholism in industrialized Europe, purchased 60 acres along the Fox River in 1925.
Swedish Day is still going strong in Good Templar Park after 113 years. In 2020, the continuity was kept going when Swedish Day went drive-thru, and people were able to pick up Swedish meatball dinners and other Scandinavian cuisine.
The historic park is populated by charming summer cottages (stugas) built in the 1930s and is home to the replica Viking Ship that sailed the Atlantic Ocean to the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. This annual celebration family festival is open to the public and attended by people of all nationalities.
Find out what's happening in Genevawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Keep up with Swedish Day happenings on the Good Templar Park Facebook Page.
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