Sunday, May 20 – the day of the Norwegian Club’s 17 Mai luncheon at the swanky Sofitel Hotel in central Brisbane. The weather was perfect, the champagne was chilled and the tables were set for the Norwegian Club’s biggest event on the social calendar.

With over 80 guests attending, the Sofitel lunch is a must-attend event with delicious food and a parade of beautiful outfits as many attendees wear their bunads (kids included); and suits and a rainbow of clothes make the room shine.

Lunch this year had the usual staples of massive seafood smorgasbords filled with all the prawns, oysters, mussels and crab you could eat; as well as a well-equipped salad bar and hot food ranging from duck l’orange through to char-grilled lamb chops, pork belly with sauerkraut, various Indian dishes and the most delicious seasoned roasted vegetables around. Desserts were classically french-styled with profiteroles, creme caramels and miniature chocolate waffle cones, as well as a variety of fruit salads, gelato, cakes and the ever-popular chocolate fountain and as many dipping desserts as you could hope to have (think strawberries, marshmallows and pastry puffs – all ready to be drowned in rich, velvety melted chocolate).

During the event, we had our annual speech from the President and introduction to the Honorary Consul of Norway, Peter Tobin. There were traditional Norwegian songs led by the Scandinavian Singers (and joined in by all attendees) such as Per Spelmann, Norge i rødt, hvitt og blått and of course the Norwegian national anthem. For the children, we had a magician to entertain and delight after dessert was over; and for the adults, there was much intermingling, chatting and of course drinking of coffee.

It’s impossible to capture the atmosphere of an event in text, so suffice to say that if you haven’t yet participated in a 17 Mai celebration with the Norwegian Club, you need to – and if you have, you know how great it is.