The many Danish traditions
Aside from Christmas and Easter, two big Danish holidays that follow the Christian calendar, Denmark also has many other traditions throughout the year. Here's where they come from and how they're celebrated, so that you know how to join the fun
Fastelavn
Fastelavn, now more a special day for children, was traditionally the evening before the 40-day Catholic Lent. It always falls seven weeks before Easter Sunday. Originally, and up until the early 19th Century, adults would dress up, drink, eat and beat a cat out of a barrel – often on horseback and with a live cat in the barrel. This was a way for people to protect themselves against evil, which the cat was a symbol of.
Today, kids still dress up and hit a barrel, but it has candy, other goodies, or a paper cat in it. You will also find fastelavnsboller in cafes and bakeries. They come in different shapes and forms - one of them is a sweet, traditional, donut-like cake, often with cream or jam inside - delicious.
Easter
There are no particularly Danish traditions over Easter, but most people will get the week off – from Maundy Thursday through to Easter Monday. Many Danes take the chance to go to their summer houses, or just spend time eating and relaxing with their families – and of course painting and eating Easter eggs, maybe having a family Easter lunch, and drinking Easter beer.
Skt Hans aften
On the night before the longest day of the year, the Danes gather outside to light a bonfire and sometimes, burn a witch. They call it midsommeren, the “mid-summer”, where June 24th is known as Sankt Hans day, and the evening before, the 23rd June, is known as Sankt Hans aften (eve).
The day has been celebrated in the Nordic countries for many centuries. The tradition goes that people gather on the shortest night of the year to light bonfires, dance, and sing together. And some burn witches. This might take place on the beach, in a forest, or in a garden.
The burning of witch dolls on the bonfire is said to come from Germany. According to folklore, witches are particularly active on Sankt Hans aften, and so burning them helps to prevent them from stopping and resting. However, there are some Danes who find this tradition controversial, and so many stick with just the bonfire or being outside with friends and/or family.
Mortensaften
Every year on the 10th November is Mortensaften, the day before St Martin’s Day. This day is celebrated in many other countries around Europe, and in Denmark, they eat duck or goose, in the company of friends or family. It’s a day for remembering bishop Martin of Tours, who was too humble to want to be a bishop. Martin is remembered in Christian traditions as a man with a big heart for the poor.
The story goes that when he came to be appointed as bishop, he hid among the geese, but the geese exposed him. As revenge, Martin ordered that all households slaughter one goose a year and eat it on the day he was exposed and appointed as bishop. As duck are more common in Denmark, the Danes choose to eat duck over geese.
Halloween
While the Halloween traditions of today have been picked up from America, every year on October 31st, many Danes celebrate. And of course, it has been paired with hygge, whereby Danes get together to carve pumpkins, eat, and kids dress up and go knocking on doors asking for candy.
Storebededag
The fourth Friday after Easter is storebededag, which has been a day off for Danes since 1686. In its early days, the bell would ring at 6 o’clock the evening before to signal that all trade and hospitality had to close. This of course also meant that bakers could not deliver freshly baked white bread on the Friday, so it became a tradition to buy bread the day before, to warm up in the oven and eat at home. This tradition of eating warm white bread the evening before, and having the Friday off, has stuck.
However, the Government decided in early 2023 that Danes will no longer have a public holiday on storebededag from 2024.
New Year’s Eve
New Year’s Eve is a big event for the Danes, who get together with friends and family each year to say goodbye to the old and hello to the new.
It is quite an important tradition in Denmark to eat dinner together on the evening of the 31st December, and to have kransekage, a cake made of layers of marzipan rings. But dinner is perhaps not quite as pressing as the King's Speech, which is broadcast live every year at 6 pm. This has been an annual occurrence since the 1880s. He will speak of topics and issues both within Denmark and abroad.
As on New Year’s Eve everyone is allowed to let off fireworks, there are many light shows everywhere for the whole afternoon and evening. And when the clock chimes midnight, the Danes often jump into the new year by literally jumping off a chair or sofa.