MINOT - Norsk Hostfest President Chester Reiten says people have been coming to the Hostfest for more than 25 years to dance, eat, visit and be entertained - and that's just fine with him.

"We never look at the event in terms of how much economic activity this may bring into the community," Reiten said. "We put on an event with three main cores - entertainment, food and crafts. That is what makes this a success. If people come and they enjoy themselves and there is an impact to the community, then that is great."

The annual celebration of Scandinavian heritage runs today through Saturday in Minot.

"This is a celebration of heritage," Reiten said. "This was designed by second-generation Scandinavians who wanted to get something started to celebrate (their) heritage, and it was modeled around rural activities of dance and food and visiting."

The Hostfest has six single-stage free shows, and a dance each night, Reiten said.

"We fashioned this after the rural Saturday night, so the rural people are our backbone of the Hostfest," he said.

Pam Davy, executive director of the Hostfest, said the event caters to all ages.

"We have gone into the schools, and we have the Miss Hostfest and Hostfest King - that has added to the interest of a number of younger people," Davy said.

The CHS Accordion Club, with more than 200 members, has helped keep the music alive. CHS, short for Cenex Harvest States, has members from 20 states and 14 Canadian provinces who get together and play the Hostfest. They range in age from 8 to 90.

"When it first started, we had 14 or 15 people," founder Jerry Schlag said. "You had to be an accordion player to play in the club. We kept getting bigger, and one year it was so big that I was standing on one end of the group, and we were all playing the same song, but in two different parts because we couldn't hear each other. "

Schlag said that as many as 90 accordionists have performed on the stage at one time. The group also plays in nursing homes and hospitals during the week of Hostfest.

Reiten is proud of the fact that the festival celebrates heritage.

"We started this when times were uncertain and there was a lot of nervousness," Reiten said. "We looked back into the past and saw what was good and natural about our heritage, and we brought it up to date. We made people interested in their roots. This October celebration gave us confidence of going into the future."