Vesterheim offers free museum admission and family activities on the second Saturday of every month. In December, learn about Norwegian Christmas traditions at Vesterheim. The museum is decorated with trees that showcase different handcraft traditions. The day will also include a presentation by Rolf Svanoe, Vesterheim Tours to Norway Coordinator. Stop by for holiday story time and crafts: At 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.: Stop in the Norwegian House on the first floor of the Museum Building to listen to the story Who’s That Knocking on Christmas Eve? by Jan Brett. 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Make a holiday craft on the third floor of the Museum Building. Immigration Tours Presentation by Rolf Svanoe: 10:00 a.m.: Tours to Norway Coordinator, Rolf Svanoe, will give a presentation about two tours to Norway that happened in 2025 in the Amdal-Odland Heritage Center (across Water Street from the Museum Building). For those who couldn’t travel to Stavanger or New York City, the presentation will give a taste of what this emigration anniversary has meant to people on both sides of the ocean and the ongoing relationship between the two countries. The year 2025 was significant for Norway and Norwegian Americans, marking the 200th anniversary of the first organized immigration of Norwegians to North America. During the next 100 years, over 800,000 Norwegians followed in their footsteps. Celebrations of this milestone happened in Norway and in the United States, and a replica of that first ship, the Restauration, recreated the same journey that carried 52 Norwegians across the Atlantic to New York City. Departing Stavanger, Norway, on July 4, the ship arrived in New York City on October 9, exactly 200 years later to the date. Vesterheim lead tours to both 2025 celebrations – the one in Stavanger when the replica set sail on July 4 and one in New York when it landed on October 9. Come and enjoy the museum, open from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. with special exhibits listed here. There’s always something new! You will find Norwegian chocolate, traditional handcrafts, and other holiday gift ideas in the Museum Store, open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. This program is supported in part by a generous gift to the Vesterheim Annual Fund from Bill and Kathi Wild and The Depot Outlet.
