Norway's National Day Parade at Southwark Park

Today is Norway's National Day - an occasion for the whole nation of Norway. People throng the streets and have parades with music, song and celebration.



London is no different, with its Norwegian community holding a parade in Southwark Park, close by to the Norwegian church at Rotherhithe where I watched Norway play football.



I went along today, expecting quite a small parade - I was pleasantly surprised to see a long parade snake its way around the park. Leading the charge were flag bearers, ladies and gents in traditional costume and some young people playing musical instruments.



Having circuited the park once, the parade settled in to a central area with a bandstand. While people ate hotdogs and ice-creams, and waved their Norwegian flags, a woman sang the national anthem. Sadly, I had to leave soon after, while some kids sung a series of jaunty tunes - and surely a Eurovision song couldn't have been far off.