It's Syttende Mai, Norwegian Constitution Day, and all of downtown Ballard is celebrating. Live music starts at Bergen Place Park at 1 pm and Leif Erikson Lodge is hosting an open house from 1-5 pm with food, music, dancing, and a visit from a genealogist Liv Marti Haakenstad so you can learn more about your Scandinavian roots. Elsewhere in the neighborhood, Scandinavian Specialties is your go-to for Norwegian snacks (and they'll also be at the festival serving pølse, a traditional bright red pork sausage), the National Nordic Museum has kid-focused programming—Norwegian Fjord Horses and a train!—as well as plenty of Norwegian flags in their gift shop, and Skål Beer Hall has an outdoor beer and aquavit garden, live music, and a walk-up grill. The main event, of course, is the annual parade. It starts at 6 pm at 24th Avenue Northwest and Northwest 62nd Street and travels south to Northwest Market Street, where it hangs a left for one block before turning down Ballard Avenue Northwest. There are marching bands, drum lines, traditional dancers, and little kids dressed in cute Norwegian suits and dresses and throwing out candy! It's terribly adorable. Want to celebrate but can't make it to Ballard in time? Catch the parade online at 17thofmay.org.  by Megan Seling