Links with Norway

The Norwegian Church Arts Centre has a strong cultural relationship with Hordaland County Council in Norway. Cardiff and Hordaland, located on the southwest coast of Norway, have been twinned since 1996. The partnership between the two cities has resulted in the established of a regular programme of cultural and educational exchanges. Information exchange is another important element, with Hordaland for example providing Cardiff with advice on their experience in handling passenger liners to inform Cardiff’s development as a cruise-ship destination. Another recent exchange between the two Cities resulted in Cardiff’s Techniquest being commissioned to provide consultancy advice to a similar attraction based in Bergen.

Hordaland has a population of 445,060, and the County's administration is based in Bergen, which has one of the oldest symphony orchestras and a wide range of museums and galleries. Bergen is also home to Norway's first theatre, which was built in 1850. Besides leisure and tourism, important industries in Hordaland include shipping, aquaculture and fishing. Bergen is also a major centre for education and research, home to several university colleges and research institutes.

To read more, the official website of Hordaland County Council can be found at: www.hordaland.no.

The tourist websites for Hordaland and Bergen, including some beautiful photographs of the area, can be found at:
www.visithordaland.com
www.viistbergen.com

The Welsh Norwegian Society

Following the boom in Welsh coal mining, Cardiff became the world’s largest coal-exporting port by 1913. At this time Norwegian seafarers were a familiar sight in Cardiff, and many decided to settle to run businesses associated with shipping, including Roald Dahl’s father Harold. However, many continued to live their life at sea, and the overseas churches provided a much-appreciated home from home, particularly during the Second World War, when Norwegian seafarers were unable to return to their occupied homeland. Cardiff was one of the first places to have a Norwegian Church, and welcomed up to 70,000 Scandinavian seafarers each week.

The Welsh Norwegian Society was formed as a natural successor to the former congregation, and has members from Cardiff, Swansea, Norway and beyond. The Norwegian Church Arts Centre provides an important focus for the group, and meetings are held regularly to discuss scope for cultural activities.

Events organised by the Society include the annual celebration of Norwegian Day on 17th May where a colourful parade and flag-raising ceremony is followed by coffee and delicious waffles in the Norwegian Church. Another popular event is the lighting of the Christmas tree lights outside the Norwegian Church, which is kindly donated by friends from Cardiff’s twin County Hordaland in southwest Norway.

These enjoyable events are open to everyone to attend, and the annual Christmas ceremony even welcomes a party of delegates from Hordaland. Please check out the Events page for details of these and other upcoming activities. Anyone with an interest in becoming more involved can contact the Norwegian Church directly