Scandinavian Culture Day begins its 17th year at Jamestown Community College on Saturday, Oct. 4. Opening day has many events in addition to traditional workshops.

Since Oct. 4 is Kanelbullen’s Dag (Cinnamon Bun Day) in Sweden, it will be celebrated at Culture Day with kanelbullar being served during Fika (coffee break). In Sweden, kanelbullar are the most popular treat with coffee. Kanelbullar typically have cardamom as an additional ingredient, are baked in individual paper cups in a very hot oven for just a few minutes, do not have a frosting or a glaze topping but instead pearl sugar and are not as sweet as the American cinnamon bun. The recipe will be available.

The Thule Lodge Adult Swedish Folk Dance Team will lead a workshop at 11 a.m. in order to teach and share their dances. This is also true of the Thule Lodge Children’s Swedish Folk Dance Team which will have a practice at 10 a.m. Both groups are seeking new members.

The Scandinavian Folk Festival has two tickets to the Broadway stage production of “Mamma Mia” at Shea’s Theatre in Buffalo for Friday, Nov. 7. They will be given away at Culture Day.

Scandinavian Resources will have a display of Swedish and Norwegian cook and knitting books. They will also be available for sale below market price.

In addition to the above special events there will be at least 23 workshops about the Scandinavian culture. The first session of workshops is at 10 a.m. and the second session at 11 a.m. Some workshops are repeated. The day begins with coffee and lingonberry drink at 9:30 a.m., fika at 10:45 a.m. and adjournment at noon. Culture Day is open to the public with no registration or fees to attend any of the workshops. All activities are in the Hamilton Collegiate Center at Jamestown Community College.

An extra workshop is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. when Kathy Petersen from the Swedish band Svenska Spelman will teach children Swedish tunes on their preferred musical instrument. Peterson performs on the fiddle and nyckelharpa. Later in the morning, she will have workshops for adults with any musical instrument to learn a Scandinavian tune.

A book discussion group led by Dr. Julie Boozer and Lynne Meyers will continue their study of the Per Anders Fogelstrom (191798) “Stockholm Series.” He is among the leading figures in modern Swedish literature. Fogelstrom spent his whole life in Stockholm, and the most famous of his many works is this series of novels set in the city he dearly loved, describing the lives of successive generations of Stockholmers between 1860 and 1968. The focus will be on the fourth book in the series called “In a Transformed City” covering 1925 to 1945. Leading up to this study will be a review of the first three books in the series. Copies of all four books will be available for sale or library loan. These books cover life in Stockholm during the time when 25 percent of the population of Sweden emigrated to the United States with many of them settling in Jamestown and Northwestern Pennsylvania.

A Folk Costume workshop will be led by Sonja Pascatore and Diane Grodecki. This includes a display of authentic vintage Scandinavian costumes as well as artistic and interesting books about costumes. Directions are available on how to research and make your own Swedish or Norwegian Parish costume. Some hat kits including Swedish floral fabric are available to buy and sew. The October workshop will provide instruction on making a folk costume skirt bag.

At the 2014 Scandinavian Folk Festival, Norm Owen and Paul Pearson presented a lecture entitled “Good Old Swedish Meat Markets in Jamestown.” A video tape of this lecture will be shown at 10 a.m. The Rosemaling (Swedish painting) workshop lead by Berit Benacci and Dorothy Levin will begin painting a mangle board in the advanced class and the beginner level will practice brush strokes. Gale Peterson’s knitting workshop will also be making a crocheted Danish heart. A wooden Swedish angel ornament will be featured in the craft workshop. Faith Woolson will be preparing and serving samples of a quick Danish dessert in the cooking workshop.

Additional workshops include learning the Swedish language with Jeff Kroon, chip carving led by Don Reed, Swedish huck towel weaving led by Jean Thompson and Denise Nickels, genealogy (bring your family information) with Karin Livsey, and playing the ancient Viking games of Kubb and Hnefatafl.

The goal of Culture Day is to pass the Scandinavian culture along from one generation to another. For more information contact Don Sandy at 665-0883.