Guide to Denmark's summer festivals

We’ve be doing our homework to prepare you for a fun-filled Copenhagen summer, and there is something for everyone! Check out what the city has in store in our festival guide.

The guide is in chronological order so you can just print it out and stick it on your fridge door. We start right now this weekend:

12-15 May: Copenhagen Literature Festival

If you are a bookish type, the Copenhagen Literature Festival is just for you. The four-day festival will offer readings, conversations, music, film, and much more.

Students prepare for year's biggest event

Roskilde: You probably heard of it before you came to Denmark. And if you did, you probably knew that it was the name of a music festival before knowing it is of one of Denmark’s oldest cities.

This week many students (as well as many others) are preparing their costumes for themed camps, training their livers and buying their tents. It's Roskilde season!

The Festival runs from 26 June to 3 July, but the party really gets going on 30 June.

Festival city

If it is your first time at the festival, don’t worry, because the organizers have you covered.

Sankt Hans brings out old viking traditions

The weather has been warm for a while, but the real Danish summer begins on St. Hans Eve.

St. Hans Eve has been celebrated ever since the time of the Vikings. At that time, people were travelling around to visiting healing water wells and built large bonfires to ward away evil spirits.

Although an unofficial holiday since 1770, St. Hans is the ultimate summer celebration in Denmark.

Herbs and witches

Prepare yourself for 5 days of street parties

You may have already heard the word, but if you haven’t: Prepare yourself for a good time. 'Distortion' is a place »where the polite and friendly Danes turn into Tasmanian devils,« according to LoDown magazine.

Ok, that sounds interesting! But what is it actually?

Distortion is an annual Copenhagen music festival that celebrates music and street life. Each day from 1 June to 5 June you can hear music, dance and check out different quarters of town from 17:00 to 22:00 (or 23:00, depending on the area). And the best thing is, that it is free!

Drunken holiday spooks Copenhagen

This Sunday marks the famed American holiday, Halloween. On this day, and throughout the weekend, Americans will be spreading the spooky joy of their famed festivities. Though the holiday is an innocent request for sweets from costumed youngsters, college students view Halloween in a different light.

Join the Danish witch craze

You know it is summer in Denmark when it is time for St. Hans Eve.

Every year since the time of the Vikings, St. Hans Eve has been celebrated. The main events at that time were visiting healing water wells and making a large bonfire to ward away evil spirits. Nowadays, there are no healing water wells left to visit.

Although not an official holiday since 1770, St. Hans is the ultimate summer celebration.

Herbs and witches

Fastelavn for beginners

Fastelavn (pronounced Fas-tuh-lown) is as common as bikes or Carlsberg for the Danes, but for recent transplants to the country it can be a little strange.

Celebrators can eat, drink, and be merry - all while costumed and playing traditional games such as 'slå katten af tønden,' which literally means hitting the cat from the barrel.

Preview: Majestic folk music at Studenterhuset

The student bar Studenterhuset is no longer just a secret place for international students in Copenhagen: The student card gives free access every Wednesday evening to the International Nights, mostly for international students, where a resident DJ juggles with current commercial hits, and types of music you can easily dance to.

However, the student bar also hosts numerous concerts with artists more or less renowned from pop, rock and folk. Thursday 2 February, the English singer-songwriter Simon Finn will honour us with his presence for only DKK 80.

Indian student blog on top 100 world list

It is that interesting. Ankit Khandelwal’s particular take on Denmark has resulted in a nomination for the top 100 of the world’s ‘Exchange and Experience blog 2012’, organised by bab.la, a language portal.

Ankit has just finished his Master's in chemical and biochemical engineering. In his blog, he observes captivating things about Danish daily life.

The bloggers nominated are high-school and university students doing an exchange, au-pairs, expats, around-the-world-travellers, or young people volunteering for social services abroad.

Bus zones, numbering systems

Hot soup, art = nice, cosy, winter day

Art is all about expression, and the Host Guest Ghost project is doing exactly that in a refreshingly new manner. On 29 January 2012, they will host an event with the Brazilian artist and writer, Ricardo Basbaum along with the Chef of Cafe Elefanten, Mauro Carinci Cara. Together, they’ll compose a treat for the eyes and taste buds, they say.

This event is in collaboration with the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen who plays ‘host’ for the ‘guests’ Basbaum and Cara. The audience, their expectations, interactions and memories are the ‘ghosts’ from this event.