Eleonora and Ethel Olson - The Snoose Boulevard Festival

The Snoose Boulevard Festival

The Snoose Boulevard Festival was held in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis from 1972 through 1977. In the late 19th century Cedar Avenue became known as “Snoose Boulevard”, a nickname often given to the main street in Scandinavian communities. The term derived from the residents’ fondness for snus (snuff), an inexpensive form of tobacco. The event, which celebrated the area’s Scandinavian past, featured the music, food, and arts of the immigrants who had once lived there. It also highlighted the careers of Olle i Skratthult (Hjalmar Peterson), Slim Jim and the Vagabond Kid (Ernest and Clarence Iverson) and the Olson Sisters (Eleonora and Ethel Olson).

The headline performer was the Swedish-born singer Anne-Charlotte Harvey. In conjunction with the festival she recorded three albums of folk tunes, emigrant ballads, hymns, waltzes and comic songs. The annual celebration and the recordings were sponsored by the non-profit Olle i Skratthult Project, whose director was the renowned ethnomusicologist Maury Bernstein. Although Harvey didn't record anything from the Olson Sisters' repertoire, she did perform Mabel’s Wedding in concert.