Dance on Fire Read online

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  Kingsburg, California. It is a rural community in the heart of the San Joaquin valley, the richest agricultural valley in the world—so states the city’s official website. Incorporated on May 11, 1908, it has a population of over eleven thousand and lies twenty miles south of Fresno, nearly halfway between San Francisco and the city of angels.

  This is the home of Sun-Maid, the largest and most well-known raisin plant in the world. The gold medal Olympian Rafer Johnson was raised here. The actor Slim Pickens, who rode a nuclear warhead in the film, “Doctor Strangelove”, was born here.

  The Swedish Village, the signs read and the police cars and police badges proudly proclaimed. The style of the buildings’ architecture, the baby blue and yellow colors of Sweden, as well as the frequent sighting of the traditional dress from one or another of the downtown business owners, further testify to this. Signs at various points along the city limits greet strangers with the Swedish Word: Valkommen. It means exactly as it sounds, which is “welcome”.

  Every third weekend in May thousands of people converge on Kingsburg for the Swedish Festival. It is a time when nearly the entire town puts on its traditional dress and a show for the weekend, with the highlights being a dance around the May Pole on Friday night and a pancake breakfast and parade on Saturday. This year marks the forty-third annual celebration and the town’s centennial anniversary.

  The festivities were set to begin in ten days.