Media Advisory

Millennial Celebration of Leif Erikson's Voyage July 29

WHAT: Celebrating the 1,000th anniversary of Leif Erikson's voyage to the New World, as well as a millennium of Norwegian migration, and Scandinavian immigration to North America.

WHO: Traditional dancers, including Klepp Leikarring, a 27-member Norwegian dance troupe flying from Norway on the day of this event to perform, plus dramatic readings and presentations.

WHEN: July 29, 2000, Saint Olav's Day, beginning at 7 p.m.

WHERE: Leif Erikson Statue, Shilshole Bay Marina in Ballard. Presented by Synnove Sostre Produksjoner, a nonprofit organization celebrating Nordic culture and Nordic-American heritage. Also sponsored by the Port of Seattle, the Leif Erikson International Foundation, and the Leif Erikson Lodge No. 1, Sons of Norway.

CONTACT: Call Synnove Sostre Produksjoner, (206) 784-6181, for more information.

Leif Erikson was born in Iceland to his Norwegian born father, Erik the Red, and his Icelandic born mother, Thjodhildur. His family sailed to Greenland when he was a boy, becoming its first European settlers. Erikson, later living in Norway, left that country and began his historic voyage to North America 1,000 years ago.

The first organized emigration from Norway to North America began in 1825 with the arrival of the sloop Restauration in New York Harbor. The dance group Klepp Leikarring is traveling from Norway and will arrive on the day of the celebration in honor of the Restauration's voyage.

Zacharias Martin Taftezon left his native Hammerfest, Norway, for the United States in 1847, and while he may have intended to go to California in search of gold, he arrived instead in the Oregon Territory, becoming the area's first Norwegian settler in 1850.

PREVIEW PHOTO-OP: Workers will be cleaning the 14-foot brass statue of Leif Erickson at Shilshole Bay Marina on the morning of Wednesday, July 26.