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The Scandinavian Cultural Center in West Newton hosts live musical performances in its festive main hall. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

The Scandinavian Cultural Center and Library, located at 206 Waltham St. in West Newton, offers numerous programs and events related to the five Nordic countries of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, and Finland.

This year, they’re reviving their popular Viking Festival, which they have not hosted since before the COVID-19 pandemic. It will be on May 31.

“We’re really excited about that,” said Executive Director Kerry Lavin.

It will feature a Viking battle reenactment by a local group.

They’re also looking forward to having events celebrating the 80th anniversary of the existence of Pippi Longstocking this fall, the children’s book character created by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren.

Lavin is pleased by the success of their recent cookbook club, which started last fall and will run through March. Each month, a cookbook from a different Scandinavian country is chosen, and people sign up to bring a dish to share. (You can still sign up for February’s meeting).

Some might be surprised by Newton having a Scandinavian center, but it reflects the town’s history. In the late 19th century, Massachusetts drew thousands of immigrants from all over Europe to work in its growing industrial economy, and that was especially true for places with huge mills like Newton. The Swedish Charitable Society of Greater Boston was founded in 1912 to assist members of the Swedish immigrant community, and in 1917 the Swedish Home
(now the Scandinavian Living Center) was opened on Waltham Street to provide a home for elderly Swedes.

The Scandinavian Cultural Center has a library for residents and guests to use. Photo by Bryan MCGonigle

In the 1990s, some more recent immigrants saw Swedish flags flying, and went in to ask if there was any space they could use to meet. In an unused carriage house, Scandinavian immigrants began to meet, and read newspapers from back home that were picked up from airlines that otherwise would have discarded them. This grew into the Scandinavian Library, which now has 6,000 books. Events grew out of that, with people meeting to discuss books.

The Scandinavian Cultural Center, which was previously under the auspices of the Living Center (it merged with the library in 2024 to become one independent non-profit), began offering a variety of events, particularly after their Nordic Hall was opened in 2001. One popular event is their Kaffestugan, which offers pastries and other treats as well as conversation.

“It gives immigrants a feeling of home,” said Lavin. “They can hear people speaking their language.”

The SCC&L wants to be a space where people can come together and share in their heritage. Lavin is pleased that they just added a children’s section to the library.

“We hope that for people who want to share their culture, it’ll keep getting passed on,” she said. Nordic Hall provides space for local Scandinavian-American groups, like the Norumbega chapter of the Sons of Norway, which has a yearly celebration of Norwegian Independence Day.

But it also wants to be a place for everyone who’s interested in Scandinavian culture, and to spread that culture with people who aren’t familiar yet. The children’s book section is also popular with adult language learners. Lavin is excited that they are going to be offering Finnish
language classes later this year.

“There’s nothing like being face-to-face and having conversations,” she said.

The Scandinavian Cultural Center in West Newton also has an assisted living center for seniors. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

They offer a wide variety of programming: film screenings, concerts, book talks, historical presentations, crafts, and more. In January and February they are having a special events series on the Sámi people, an ethnic minority group who live in northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia.

In February, they’re hosting a sauna weekend for those who would like to experience the Finnish sauna tradition, which includes going out into the snow after experiencing the humidity of the sauna.

There are also many events for children. “We want to share with children things in Scandinavian culture they might find interesting,” said Lavin. Last year they had an event where children used yarn to replicate Edvard Munch’s painting The Scream. A popular upcoming event is Nordic Easter crafts (adults are also welcome). The events are in English, so they hope all children will feel welcome to enjoy arts and crafts from another culture. Full events list can be found here.

Be sure to stop by in March to pick up a semla, the traditional Swedish Fat Tuesday treat.

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