When politicians vanish and headlines get odd, you’ve entered Norway’s ‘agurktid', or cucumber time. Discover the summer slowdown when even the news takes a well-earned break.
If you’ve spent any time in Norway during July, you’ll know the country slows down to a crawl. Offices empty, politicians disappear, and journalists are left scratching their heads for something, anything, to report. Welcome to agurktid.
I'm writing this as I'm melting in our summer heatwave. It's forecast to hit an astonishing 32°C tonight, almost unheard of temperatures in Trondheim. To try to take my mind off the heat I often turn to the news.
What do I find? This NRK story about young Norwegians who claim they can’t eat without watching something first, describing how they scroll for the perfect video before taking a single bite.
This is the kind of oddly relatable yet absurd story that could only make national headlines during agurktid when even everyday habits become newsworthy.
What Is ‘Agurktid'?
Literally translated as “cucumber time,” agurktid is a concept used to describe the slow news period in summer, especially during July and early August.
It’s the time of year when regular news dries up and Norwegian newspapers fill their pages with oddities, human interest stories, and holiday features.
Despite its slightly silly name, agurktid is a recognised phenomenon. It’s not just about lazy reporting. It reflects the rhythm of Norwegian society itself.
The summer slowdown is real: Parliament is in recess, courts are quiet, and many companies shut down or run on skeleton staff. Even crime rates tend to dip. For journalists, this means less hard news and more space to fill.
The Origin of the Term
The word agurktid has its roots in the German term Sauregurkenzeit, which refers to the time of year when merchants had little business and newspapers were short on serious content.
The cucumber connection is still a bit of a mystery, though some suggest it refers to the peak of cucumber harvest season, which is a time of year that might have felt uneventful for everyone else.
In any case, the term was adopted into Norwegian journalistic slang by the late 19th century, and it’s stuck around ever since. Today, it’s used both in the media and in everyday conversation, often with a wry smile.
What Makes the News During Agurktid?
With few major stories to cover, Norwegian media often gets creative. During agurktid, you’re more likely to read about a dog who saves its owner from a river, an unusually shaped vegetable, or how many ice creams Norwegians consume per capita.
Or, as I mentioned earlier, how young Norwegians have to scroll endlessly through YouTube or Netflix to find something to watch before they eat!
Some newspapers lean into it deliberately, running quirky or nostalgic summer features, travel ideas, or rehashed news from earlier in the year. For many readers, it’s a welcome break from the heavy stories that dominate the rest of the calendar.
Cucumber Time Gets Literal
Sometimes, agurktid news stories don’t even try to hide their silliness. In a recent press release, supermarket chain REMA 1000 proudly declared: “Cucumber Time is Here, and Cucumbers Top the Sales!”
Yes, in classic agurktid fashion, the cucumber itself was dominating. Not just in the news, but on shopping lists too.
According to REMA 1000, more than 1.5 million cucumbers were sold in just a few weeks, and over 8.7 million so far this year. That beats out apples, bananas, and tomatoes to make cucumbers the best-selling fruit or vegetable of the season.
“This might be the most fitting agurktid story we could offer,” said Pia Mellbye, the chain’s Sales and Marketing Director. “People are buying cucumbers like never before.”
And why not? They’re healthy, cheap, require no cooking, and are refreshingly crunchy straight from the fridge.
In the spirit of the season, REMA 1000 even predicted agurktid would continue both in the media and on supermarket shelves: “There’s still plenty of cucumber left in the summer, and in agurktid itself.”
You couldn’t make it up, although someone probably has.
