BAY RIDGE — It felt like the Norse gods and goddesses had descended on Bay Ridge at the annual Fastelavn celebration. There was food, games and music provided by Ellen Lindstrom, aka the Swedish Meatball, as guests dressed in old-world costumes to pay homage to Bay Ridge’s Norwegian past. And it felt like a true Danish Mardi Gras, with a bit of carnival thrown in for good measure.
The event was organized by the Scandinavian East Coast Museum and its president and founder Victoria Hofmo and held on Saturday, Feb. 29 at Vesuvio Restaurant in Bay Ridge.
The carnival is historically celebrated in such places as Denmark, Norway, Iceland and Greenland, and focuses around the return of spring.
Fastelavn revelers gather around for the cake cutting.
The story goes that children would dress in costume and go from door to door and say ‘Fastelavn is my name and if you don’t give us the rolls we’re going to play a trick on you.’ In fact, the idea of Halloween trick or treat comes from that tradition.
“We’ve been doing this for over 10 years,” Hofmo said. “We do things that are traditional like the music and the piñata and the special food, but really, it feels a little bit like Halloween. There’s a lot of dressing up and some trick or treating involved as well,” explained Hofmo.
The event featured traditional Danish music, branch decorating to signify the return of spring, and traditional Fastelavn buns and Danish treats as well as prizes for best costume. Games were also at the center of the celebration as well as a piñata to honor the Danish “hit the cat in the barrel” tradition, which is said to represent good luck.
Among the games was a “horse race” with black cats, the “pass the cat” game that mirrors musical chairs with a fake cat in a bag being handed off, and a game in which partners wrap each other up in toilet paper with the first to unspool an entire roll being the winner. Another fascinating custom, having women hit men with branches,is a fertility rite, according to Hofmo.
Happily dancing and swaying to the music.
“It’s just a wonderful way to share the culture among ourselves and with other people,” Hofmo told this paper. “For example, May is Italian, Jerry is Jewish, Annie has an Irish background. Part of our mission is to educate, preserve and share our culture with other people,” Hofmo added.
Lynne Engelhardt and Elizabeth Theofan play pass the cat.
Trimming the pussywillow branches.
Annie Kozak poses by the Fastelavn poster.
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