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No malls, but plenty of holiday tussle
Gymnastics show, torchlight march help launch more than a month of Christmas activities

Geirr Lystrup, center right, the Moscow Balalaika Quartet, at left, and two Longyearbyen choirs perform the Christmas concert "Stjerna Fra Øst" at Huset on Nov. 22. The concert launched more than a month of holiday activities that continue with a torchlight march and tree lighting Nov. 29.

Standing outside a door for hours and then trampling your fellow man for cheap TV sets on Black Friday signals the beginning of the Christmas season in certain parts of the world. In Svalbard, where malls are scarce and blackness reigns much longer, grand bargains give way to holiday exertions decidedly less combative in nature.

A gymnastics holiday show by about 80 youths on Saturday begins a weekend of events celebrating the start of Advent. A family liturgy, torchlight procession through Longyearbyen, tree-lighting ceremony, music and stories are scheduled Sunday as part of more than five weeks of Christmas-related events.

The festivities started last Sunday when about 50 members of two Longyearbyen choirs joined singer Geirr Lystrup and the Moscow Balalaika Quartet for "Stjerna Fra Øst," a concert performed throughout Norway annually combining traditional Russian folk music with a Norwegian holiday tale. A packed crowd at Huset offered a standing ovation for the performance, the second Longyearbyen since the show debuted in 2002.

While Thanksgiving and the subsequent shopping madness of Black Friday are a decidedly U.S.-based phenomenon, an abundance of food and bargains will be offered by merchants throughout Longyearbyen staying open late Thursday for a "Happy Hour" celebration.

This weekend's activities begin with a gymnastics show by Turngruppa, featuring youths ages 5 to 17, at 4 p.m. Saturday at Svalbardhallen. The emphasis is on the various styles rather than theater, said Solbjørg Skadberg, a volunteer Svalbard Turn, which is sponsoring the event.

"There are Christmas tunes to it, but mostly it's for the youths to show off what they have been learning during the past half year," she said.

An Advent liturgy at 11 a.m. Sunday at Svalbard Church will be followed at 3 p.m. by a torchlight procession at Huset. After a welcome and songs, the procession will pass by Santa's mailbox below Mine 2B in Nybyen, where wish lists can be added to the outgoing mail. The procession will continue to the center of town, where at 4 p.m. a tree-lighting ceremony and music from the Longyearbyen Storband are scheduled.

A children's storytime is scheduled at Longyearbyen Library at 4:45 p.m., with the day's events ending in time for locals to watch the 5:30 p.m. broadcast of "Open Skies," a NRK series about the church and climate issues filmed in Svalbard that is airing during each Sunday of Advent.

This Sunday's episode will feature a previously filmed service at Tempelfjorden. Other episodes feature highlights from the "Rop Fra Arktis" climate rally, a profile of artists, and a holiday service in Ny-Ålesund.

Beyond this weekend are a range of traditional and not-so-ancient activities including:

• A Christmas run with prizes starting at Svalbardhallen at 6 p.m. Dec. 3.

• A Christmas swim gathering with coffee and cake (so much for waiting an hour after eating before going in the water) at Svalbardhallen at 2 p.m. Dec. 5.

• A Christmas concert featuring Polargospel, the Longyearbyen mixed choir, the Store Norske men's choir and other local musicians at Svalbard Church at 4 p.m. Dec. 13.

• Two Christmas Eve liturgies, the first at 3 p.m. and the second at 4 p.m., at Svalbard Church.

• A Christmas Day liturgy at noon at Svalbard Church.

• A Romjul procession beginning at Svalbardhallen at noon Dec. 26.

Movies with Christmas themes will also be featured at Huset throughout the holidays. And if anyone starts feeling the post-season blues, the newly released U.S. interpretation of "A Christmas Carol" will show Jan. 17.

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