Have you ever been to Norway in winter? If so, you know it’s a fairy tale country at Christmas time.
But if 3,750 miles seems a long way to go to find authentic Scandinavian Christmas celebrations, then the close-knit community of Knife River has you covered. The Knife River Recreation Council is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of its iconic Julebyen holiday festival (Norwegian for “Christmas village”) this Dec. 2-3. This is genuine North Shore culture at its best.
Always held the first full weekend of December, Julebyen has been cranking out thousands of home-baked krumkake, lefse, and even Swedish meatballs, not to mention an intense entertainment schedule, for 10 years running. The outdoor festival, which is focused at the Knife River Recreation Center on the banks of its namesake river, is a two-day long celebration of holiday cheer, music, dance, and trolls.
Yes, Norwegians love their fairy tales, and the gnomes and trolls come out in force at Julebyen. An event for the whole family, Julebyen is particularly spun around children. The excitement begins with a train ride to Troll Canyon. Leaving the Knife River Depot, hundreds of people take a 45-minute train ride in search of mischievous trolls along the railroad tracks. Kids love it. First, choo-chooing up the North Shore, then witnessing “real-life” trolls playing havoc in their enchanted canyon. Let’s just say it turns out trolls like throwing snowballs…
The train to Troll Canyon rolls at 11 a.m., noon, and 1 p.m. on Saturday, and again at 11 a.m. and noon on Sunday. Tickets can be purchased at the Knife River Depot, and are $5 for children 4-12, and $10 for adults. Little ones ride free.
Meanwhile, back at the Julebyen main market square, the Gnome Dome tent features children’s arts and crafts workshops, krumkake and lefse demonstrations, live music, and endless baked goods for sale. Catch the Sterling Dancers, or the children’s puppet show—produced and performed by Knife River youth, on the Gnome Dome stage. On Sunday, the Gnome Dome hosts the inimitable THUG (Two Harbors Ukulele Group).
If you hear a booming voice singing in a strange tongue around the outdoor market, it’s definitely the pride of the Iron Range—Steve Solkela, belting out Finnish ballads while he jams on his accordion. His Nordic aura is unmistakable. You will see him wandering the grounds and playing the accordion bare-handed in the ice-cold wind. A Minnesota phenomenon.
A local Scandinavian dance group—the Viken dancers of Two Harbors—will take their traditional Norwegian dancing to the outdoor stage.
All these events are just a small portion of the wacky fun and entertainment available at Julebyen. Take, for example, the children’s Herring Run (yes, children sprinting as fast as they can while balancing a dangling herring on a spatula). Norwegians know their humor.
In the words of event director Helene Hedlund, there are grandparents, parents, and grandchildren from Knife River and surrounding communities working side by side, volunteering at the festival. Hedlund stresses the “multi-generational” aspect of the event organization. “It takes a village. All of the volunteers that do the baking—it’s all homemade. All the crafts at the indoor market are designed by our local community. They have fun, but they work hard.”
Running an event this big also requires sponsors, and Hedlund credits the Knife River Recreation Council and Lovin’ Lake County destination marketing organization for promoting and financing Julebyen.
Julebyen is an all-volunteer event, and the proceeds go to support community activities operated by the Knife River Recreation Council. “Whether it’s keeping the Knife River beach open to the public, maintaining the tennis courts, the pickleball courts, or the fourth of July parade, the funds from Julebyen go to support these activities,” explains Hedlund. The town of Knife River also features the Huldrefolk Trail—a hiking trail ripe for troll encounters along the river itself.
For families looking for an even bigger adventure, there’s the option of taking the Julebyen Express from the Duluth Depot all the way to Knife River and back. This is fairy tale territory. The scenic train ride up Lake Superior’s blue shores is made possible by the North Shore Scenic Railroad. The train leaves Duluth at 9:30 a.m., arrives at Julebyen by 10:30 a.m., and drops off merrymakers to enjoy the festival until 2 p.m., at which point the train departs for the trip back to Duluth. Round-trip tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for 3–13-year-olds, and free for the littlest ones.
All the fresh air and outdoor fun on the shore of Lake Superior is going to make you very hungry. While Julebyen volunteers used to prepare all the festival’s food, this year Hedlund notes a transition to food truck vendors. “We have three food vendors coming in to do the food. The only food that Julebyen will prepare is that we’ve added hot dogs over at the Depot, on the train side, because we wanted an affordable option for families with kids.”
Hedlund says the transition to food trucks allows volunteers to focus their efforts on other parts of the production. “Selling food is very volunteer-intensive, and we had to take a look at it reality-wise. We tried one food truck last year, and this year we will have three,” says Hedlund.
Another food option this year will be the return of the Waffle Hut, run by Knife River resident Randy Ellestad. If you’ve been to Julebyen before, you know that the amazing aromas and steaming hot coffee coming out of the Waffle Hut make it a sort of axis around which all other Julebyen activities revolve.
And what’s a Christmas market without shopping? According to Hedlund, “A lot of Christmas shopping goes on during Julebyen.” There will be 17 wooden huts at the Julebyen outdoor market with local artisans selling their unique hand-made gifts. These include Julebyen stalwarts like Christiansen Sauna, Fish Johnson (selling wild caught Alaskan salmon), and Miel Duluth (honey and beeswax-based products). Other artisanal wares for sale include art, woodwork, candles, sheepskin blankets, maple syrup, hand-forged ironwork pieces, jewelry, and pottery.
This year, Julebyen will be premiering a new heated farmers market tent, operated by the Two Harbors Farmers Market (seen in summertime at the Burlington Station parking lot on Highway 61). Local growers will sell their home-raised foods in a 40×100-foot tent on the train depot side of Julebyen.
Get ready for wacky humor and lots of troll activity when you visit Julebyen in historic Knife River. This Christmastime experience with a Scandinavian flavor will transport you to a fairy-tale world. And you don’t even have to buy a plane ticket to Norway. For more information, visit: julebyen.org.