3B
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 2018
Festival Entertainment
KRISTOFFER KLEIVELAND and
MARIA SKJELDRUM TOPPE
The Kleiveland Toppe Duo is known
for their humorous interaction and
contagiously fun mood, as well as
their culturally unique folk music from
Norway.
musicians who perform on traditional
instruments. Leikarringen is led by
Christie Stilson and Darcy Andrews
and is sponsored by the Daughters of
Norway and Norske Runddansere.
tuba and trombone player. This duo
is back after an absence last year. We
know you will enjoy their music and
shenanigans in the beer garden.
PERFORMANCES:
2 p.m., Saturday, June 16 – beer
garden
11:45 p.m., Saturday, June 16 – Arena
Kleiveland on button accordion
is familiar to Festival audiences,
having appeared here in 2014 with
Sindre Fotland. He plays his musical,
danceable tunes on a small button
accordion and has won first place at
accordion championships in Norway
several times.
1 p.m., Saturday, June 16 – Exhibit Hall
Toppe plays the traditional Norwe-
gian Hardanger fiddle. She focuses on
folk music from Western Norway and
plays lyrical pieces as well as dance
music. Recently, she received a grant
to document the Hardanger fiddle
music in the areas around Bergen,
Norway.
Astoria’s own dance group includes
dancers ranging from second-grad-
ers to adults. The Nordic Dancers
are the youngest group, and several
members are performing at their first
Midsummer Festival. Experienced
teenage dancers make up the Viking
Dancers, but fathers also participate.
This group is always open to new
members! Parents of dancers and
former dancers and adults interested
in Scandinavian folk dancing form the
Scandia Dancers. The Nordic Viking
Dancers are led by Kevin Ladd and
Bev Hoofnagle.
Both Kleiveland and Toppe are
well-rooted in the folk tradition. They
find their distinctive character in
the music of North Hordaland and
Western Norway, which they convey
with great empathy along with stories
from the old days, personal experi-
ences and improvisation.
PERFORMANCES IN THE ARENA:
6 p.m., Friday, June 15
10:45 a.m., Saturday, June 16
3:30 p.m., Saturday, June 16
5:30 p.m., Saturday, June 16
10 a.m., Sunday, June 17
12:45 p.m., Sunday, June 17
PAJUNEN/BRYNNEL – Swedish/
Finnish American
Sara Pajunen – violin and voice
Sunniva Brynnel – accordion and
voice
With deep roots in the Swedish and
Finnish folk music traditions, this new
duo performs traditional music from
the two countries as well as original
music. Both have toured internation-
ally for years, and when they met at
the New England Conservatory in
Boston, an instant musical kinship
was discovered.
The violin and accordion sometimes
play like one voice, at other times
complementing each other in playful
ways. Singing in Finnish, Swedish
and English, the duo brings to the
stage their musical backgrounds and
passions.
PERFORMANCES IN THE ARENA:
5 p.m., Friday, June 15
12:45 p.m., Saturday, June 16
2:30 p.m., Saturday, June 16
4:30 p.m., Saturday, June 16
11 a.m., Sunday, June 17
1:45 p.m., Sunday, June 17
Leikarringen likes to perform outdoors
if the weather is nice. Look for them in
front of the main entrance Saturday.
NORDIC VIKING DANCERS
Maria Skjeldrum Toppe, left, and Kristoffer Kleiveland
PERFORMANCES:
TRIBUTES to ABBA
and FLEETWOOD MAC
By popular demand, ARRIVAL, Canada’s
tribute to ABBA, will return to the Asto-
ria Scandinavian Midsummer Festival
accompanied by DREAMS, Canada’s
Fleetwood Mac tribute band.
ARRIVAL performed their ABBA show
to a large, enthusiastic audience at last
year’s 50th anniversary festival, and
people who saw the show and people
who missed the show requested that
we bring this group back.
There will be one performance only,
at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 16, at the
Clatsop County Fairgrounds. (Doors
open at 7 p.m.)
DREAMS will perform Fleetwood Mac
favorites, then during the half-hour
break for costume changes, there will
be a Scandinavian joke-telling contest.
Bring your best jokes and audition at 6
p.m. if you’d like to be included.
ARRIVAL will then perform their ABBA
tribute, and a public dance with
Coreen Bergholm’s Scandinavian
Country Band will follow in the Exhibit
Hall.
Admission to the ARRIVAL/DREAMS
concert includes admission to the
festival after 5 p.m. Shopping, snacks,
a Viking dinner and beverages will be
available, and the beer garden will be
open before and after the show.
The arena where most of the retail
booths are located will close at 6:30
p.m. Everyone with a ticket will be
readmitted at 7 p.m. to find a seat near
the main stage.
Don’t miss this chance to enjoy classic
feel-good tunes from an outstanding
tribute band. Bring your friends and
enjoy a summer evening you’ll talk
about for years.
Reserved seats in the first five rows
cost $37. The remaining reserved seats
on the floor cost $27. Tickets for the
general seating area in the bleach-
ers cost $17. There are also general
admission floor seats for handicapped
individuals. Presale tickets through the
Liberty Theatre are $2 cheaper.
Visit the Liberty Box Office at 1203
Commercial St. in Astoria through 5
p.m. on Thursday, June 14, or go to
their website to order tickets online at
libertyastoria.showare.com/
SATURDAY, JUNE 16, CLATSOP
COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS
5 p.m. – ARRIVAL/DREAMS tickets
allow entry to festival grounds — ven-
dors, full meals, beer garden
7 p.m. – doors to arena open for open
seating
7:30 p.m. – DREAMS, Canada’s tribute
to Fleetwood Mac
8:15 p.m. – Intermission, Scandinavian
joke contest
8:45 p.m. – ARRIVAL, Canada’s Tribute
to ABBA
9:30 p.m. – Public dance included with
ticket
ASTOR STREET OPRY –
“SHANGHAIED IN ASTORIA”
Now in its 33nd season, “Shanghaied
in Astoria,” is part-vaudeville, part-soap
opera and part 1950s-style Hollywood
musical, all combined into a fun, enter-
taining look at traditional local cultural
folklore, including immigrant cannery
workers from Scandinavia. What
originated as a celebration of Astoria
tradition has become a tradition in
itself, and you don’t want to miss it!
Catch “Shanghaied” cast members
performing their olios in the beer
garden Saturday.
7 p.m., Friday, June 15 at Queen’s
Coronation
PERFORMANCES:
10 a.m., Saturday, June 16 – Arena
1 p.m., Saturday, June 16 – beer garden
1 p.m., Saturday, June 16 – Exhibit
Hall
3 p.m., Saturday, June 16 – beer garden
5 p.m., Saturday, June 16 – beer garden
4 p.m., Saturday, June 16 – Exhibit
Hall
Noon, Sunday, June 17 – Arena
FOLK VOICE OF SEATTLE
From an energetic rollicking Finnish
Humppa to an elegant Swedish Ham-
bo, the Folk Voice band performs them
all. Home is Seattle, but Folk Voice
can easily find its way to Astoria for
the Midsummer Festival. Birgit Ages
is on accordion, and Philip Ages plays
mandolin and recorder, providing au-
thentic Scandinavian and international
folk tunes for listening and dancing.
PERFORMANCES:
7:30 to 9:30 a.m., Saturday, June 16 –
dining area in Exhibit Hall
Noon, Saturday, June 16 – Midsummer
Pole
7:30 to 9:30 a.m., Sunday, June 17 –
dining area in Exhibit Hall
LEIKARRINGEN OF
PORTLAND DANCERS
“Leikarringen” means circle or round
dance. The priority of this group is
the preservation of Nordic culture.
Leikarringen of Portland is open to
youths 4 and up. New dancers begin
each year while some have danced for
15 years or more.
This long dance tradition is rich with
tunes and steps from Norway, Sweden,
Denmark, Finland and even Estonia.
Dances are generally fast-paced,
and a recent addition to Leikarrin-
gen has been their own group of
2:45 p.m., Sunday, June 17 – Arena
SCANDINAVIAN COUNTRY
Returning for the Queen’s Ball on
Friday evening after the Coronation
will be local favorite Coreen Bergholm
and her band, Scandinavian Country.
Coreen learned to play accordion in
an immigrant community in North
Dakota and now spends winters per-
forming around Yuma, Arizona, where
she met Ken, the tuba and trombone
player.
This is the band that plays the local
favorite dances like the Varsouvienne,
the Butterfly and the Irish Waltz as
well as polkas, schottisches, waltzes
and hambos. They even play the
Chicken Dance and the Hokey Pokey!
PERFORMANCES:
8 to 10:30 p.m., Friday, June 15 –
Queen’s Ball in the Exhibit Hall
9 to 11 p.m., Saturday, June 16 – Scan-
dinavian Ball in the Exhibit Hall
THE SQUEEZER AND THE
GEEZER
Coreen Bergholm learned to play ac-
cordion in an immigrant community
in North Dakota and now spends
winters performing around Yuma,
Arizona, where she met Ken Presthus,
PERFORMANCES:
4 p.m., Saturday, June 16 – beer
garden
VASA YOUTH GROUP
The littlest dancers at the festival
come from Portland and will perform
at the festival on Saturday. This group
of Swedish dancers is led by Christine
Smith. Catch them leading the danc-
ing around the Midsummer Pole and
performing in the arena.
PERFORMANCES:
Noon, Saturday, June 16 – dancing
at the Midsummer Pole on the front
lawn
1:45 p.m., Saturday, June 16 – Arena
3:30 p.m., Saturday, June 16 – Exhibit
Hall
VIKING ENCAMPMENT
BY THE EMPIRE OF
CHIVALRY AND STEEL
The Empire of Chivalry and Steel spe-
cializes in the recreation of the culture
of the Middle Ages, including the art
forms, events (feasts, tournaments,
ceremonies and wars) and combat
arts from that period.
The purpose of this nonprofit
educational corporation is to study
(and teach the general public) ideals
and history from 800 AD to 1650 AD
within the geographical bound-
aries of Europe and to provide an
organized effort in the collection,
interpretations and distribution of
historical data through publication
and demonstration.
Empire of Chivalry and Steel partici-
pants will open their Viking Encamp-
ment to the public on Saturday and
Sunday and provide demonstrations
of Viking sword fighting and amour
making on both Saturday and Sunday
afternoon.
ENCAMPMENT OPEN:
10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday, June 16 –
outdoors
10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday, June 17 –
outdoors
DEMONSTRATIONS:
1 p.m., Saturday, June 16 – demon-
stration – outdoors
2 p.m., Saturday, June 16 – demon-
stration – outdoors
3 p.m., Saturday, June 16 – demon-
stration – outdoors
1 p.m., Sunday, June 17 – demonstra-
tions – outdoors
2 p.m., Sunday, June 17 – demonstra-
tion – outdoors
3 p.m., Sunday, June 17 – demonstra-
tion – outdoors