In deviation to how I normally celebrate New Year’s Eve, I counted down to 2017 six hours prior to my family and friends while visiting Norway.

The city of Sarpsborg, Norway is located about 1,000 kilometers (621 mi) southeast of Oslo, the country’s capital. Originally founded in 1015 as Borg, the city was burned to the ground by Swedish invaders in 1567, relocated, and then rebuilt again after a mudslide in 1702. Despite all the adversities, Sarpsborg endured and on this past New Year’s Eve, the city celebrated its 1,000th birthday.

I joined all the people gathered in the town square to enjoy an outdoor concert as we waited for 2017. All ages attended, many of them men in suits and ties. In the center of the square was a large yet simple Christmas tree, with the lights strung vertically. In Norway, trees are the focal point, not the decorations. Norwegians value the time between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, known as “romjul” in Norwegian. From what I could gather, it is much like how many Americans look at the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas as the “holiday season.”

Every few songs the lead vocalist changed out, while the backing band remained. To my surprise, there were both Norwegian and English songs from all different genres. A few locals were Joans Groth, Ida Elisabeth Karlson, and Ingeborg Walther. Ida sang a pretty, if underwhelming, version of Adele’s “When We Were Young,” and the lively Ingeborg’s dancing was more memorable than her song. Stian Joneid sang “Faith” by George Michael along with a few Norwegian songs.

Two contestants from Norway’s singing competition show, Stjernekamp – Knut Anders Sørum, winner, and Nicoline, runner up – were the standouts of the performances. Sørum sang in Norwegian and finished with a Norwegian opera song for which he is most famous. Nicoline sang a traditional Norwegian Christmas song and a few other well done American pop songs. Once we got past the eerie opening of Ulrikke Brandstorp’s cover of a popular Norwegian song titled “Euphoria,” her powerful voice complemented the song quite well. The most famous singer of the night, Øyvind Sauvik, who goes by the stage name Vinni, astounded me. While the crowd loved him and his rap verses, I found them unsuitable for what seemed to be a family event.

As Sveinung Eide Hansen sat at the piano, everyone returned to stage along with the mayor, Sindre Martinsen Evje, and performed the Sarpsborg song, Tusen år og tusen til, as midnight came near. My English countdown was lost among the crowd’s Norwegian countdown, led by the screen next to the stage. “Tre, to, en…”

A kiss at midnight is not a tradition in Norway. Instead, a few hugs were shared as the fireworks went off.