Ólavsøka is the biggest summer festival in the Faroe Islands, and by most Faroese considered as the national holiday of the Faroes along with Flag Day on 25 April. Ólavsøka is celebrated over two days, from the 28th to the 29th of July, the second of which is the day when the Faroese Parliament (Løgting) opens its session. Ólavsøka is a cultural and sports festival with boat races, football matches and other events. The 28 July, which is the day where the finals of the rowing competitions take place, is half working day for the members of some of the labour unions while Saint Olaf's Day (Ólavsøkudagur) on 29 July is full holiday for members of most of the unions. The literal meaning is "Olaf's vigil" (vigilia sancti Olavi in Latin), from Saint Olaf's death at the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030 (see Olsok). Vøka comes from Old Norse Vaka, which was a religious celebration that always lasted for two days. Like several other Faroese holidays, the vøka begins the evening before, so Ólavsøka always starts on 28 July with an opening ceremony. Some events start even before that; there has been a Ólavsøka Concert held on 27 July for several years. Ólavsøka is the day of the year when many Faroese crowd into the capital Tórshavn. There are held the national rowing competition finals, which is one of the highlights in Faroese sports. In addition, there are art exhibitions, folk music, and Faroese chain dancing. The chain dance is for everyone; normally it is held in Sjónleikarhúsið, which is a theatre in Tórshavn. The salute for ólavsøka in Faroese is Góða ólavsøku! (Good Olaf's Wake!). The stamps shown on the right were issued by Postverk Føroya on 18 May 1998, and the artwork was produced by Edward Fuglø. Concert, 27 July Some of the festivities start some days before, depending on which day in the week Ólavsøka falls. There is usually also an Ólavsøka concert in Tórshavn on 27 July in the evening. In recent years, however, the concert has not been held. Instead, the one-day festival Tórsfest has been held in Tórshavn the weekend before ólavsøka. Procession and opening, 28 July Normally the opening of Ólavsøka starts with a procession of sports people from Tórshavn, city council members, a brass band and people riding on horses. They walk in procession from the public school (Kommunuskúlin) down to the