Except for wartime, these reunions have been occurring since several hundred people from Valdres met in a Minneapolis park in June 1899. Stevne programs may feature a variety of Norwegian cultural and educational activities. Displays of Norwegian arts and crafts, consumption of ethnic foods, choral and instrumental music, books and readings, fiddlers and folk dancing, genealogy classes, noted speakers, video tapes, and Norwegian language in signs, songs or speech may be used. Knowing a little about your ancestors helps. If you know the geographic area where they first lived, click on the numbered area of the Fylke Map of Norway near the top of this site.
Many Lags have names that are taken from the major community or feature in their area.
You may find a similar name in the List of Lags , also found above. Lag membership is usually a matter of contacting the membership secretary of the Lag and paying a yearly membership. Unfortunately there are still a couple of fylker for which no individual Lag exists. Finnmark, Nordland, and Troms are represented by two Lag, Lappmark and Nordland. These fylker cover a large geographic area but admittedly have a smaller population.