Norway’s 17 May celebrations face music crisis as marching bands disappear

Norway’s traditional 17 May Constitution Day parades will sound different this year in several municipalities, with some replacing live marching bands with recorded music played through speakers, Dagbladet reports.

In Nore og Uvdal, a municipality in southern Norway, the local band has disbanded, forcing organisers to rely on a vehicle equipped with a speaker blasting corps music from Spotify. “It won’t be the same marching in the parade without a live band leading the way,” said Anette Sevlejordet Imingen, a member of the local 17 May committee.

The committee had urged residents who play brass or percussion instruments to step forward and form a “mini corps,” but efforts fell short. Imingen stressed that the absence of a band affects the national day’s atmosphere. “The corps strengthens national pride. When the whole village gathers behind the band, it warms your heart,” she said.

While Nore og Uvdal merges its celebrations into a single parade this year, Imingen warned that recruitment challenges threaten future events. She called for greater involvement from local authorities, music schools, and politicians to revive interest in band instruments among youth and combat negative stereotypes about corps culture.

Finn Arne Dahl Hanssen, secretary general of the Norwegian Band Federation, downplayed the issue as a nationwide trend. “This isn’t a widespread problem. Some small rural areas struggle to sustain bands long-term, but overall, our movement is growing,” he said, noting five consecutive years of membership increases—the highest in nearly 15 years.

With around 1,600 bands affiliated with the federation and an estimated 1,700–1,800 across Norway, Hanssen cited stable numbers. He attributed local band closures to factors like low recruitment, lack of volunteer parents, or insufficient access to skilled instructors through cultural schools. “Bands are among our most vital voluntary communities, building social resilience where everyone can contribute,” he added.

Nore og Uvdal has faced similar challenges before, and Imingen fears the outlook remains bleak without intervention. “It’s hard to recruit new members. I suspect this is a familiar problem in other small, sparsely populated areas,” she said.