Denmark

Copenhagen Carnival 2010 – in Fælledparken 21, 22, 23 May

Copenhagen carnival - the electronic stage

Copenhagen Carnival is a cultural event being held every year at Fælledparken in Copenhagen. Copenhagen Carnival is a three-day music festival organized by the Fonden Copenhagen Carnival.

Copenhagen Carnival is one of Copenhagen’s largest cultural events, with the three-day festival in Fælledparken and its impressive parade, every year offers a wide and varied selection of music and experiences.

Copenhagen Carnival was expanded in 2009 with several new initiatives. Among others a club-oriented scene with a wide range of exciting names from home and abroad.

Carnival was first held in 1982 with the theme “The street is the stage and you’re the entertainer”, the time of unification “Carnival in May” (KIM). The event was later taken over by the National Association Carnival in Copenhagen (KIK), which organized the carnival until 2007.

Carnival in May was started by the resident British artist John Little in 1981. He had experienced carnival in the Caribbean and was impressed by the joy and imagination it expressed. In Denmark John started Carnival in May, (KIM) as the group was called, got a small office in Krystal gade to raise money, do PR and start local groups that were trained in samba by Simba, a carnival dancer. PR effort included the small local parades, such as the football game in the Sports Park and around the streets and a compilation of press.

The PR group expected 200,000 participants to carnival in Fælledparken in 1982, and it made all the headlines. Since the weather was good the carnival was a huge success. Aside from cleaning up which ended up costing the city a fortune due to the many broken bottles that had been used to beat rhythm with.

The following year was purchased large quantities of cheap rhythm instruments in Brazil, which the inner circle of the Carnival Committee had sponsored tickets for inspiration, take pictures, make movies and shopping together with magasin and the Brazilian airline VARIG who flew the purchases to Denmark for free.

The carnival got an explovsive growth and this culminated in 1986 when around two million people, according to police and newspapers, visited Strøget and the inner city.

In 1994 new people took over and and formed the National Association KIK (Carnival in Copenhagen), which was an umbrella organization of the samba schools, carnival groups, stage bands, entertainer troupes and other groups and associations that deal with popular culture in Denmark.

The National Association Carnival in Copenhagen, however, had difficulty in making the ends meet and had to close down in 2008.

Long it seemed that there would not be be organized carnival in 2008, but the Copenhagen samba schools entered into a collaboration and hired a professional management, with Morten Sørensen in the front, to run the carnival.

This decision proved to be vital for Copenhagen carnival. For the first time in several years the carnival came out with a surplus, despite the new leadership having had less than two months to get everything in place.

The great result created optimism in the carnival environment and to ensure continuity in the organization of the annual carnival in Copenhagen, they decided to create Fonden Copenhagen Carnival.

Fonden Copenhagen Carnival is also working to publicize the music and culture from all countries of the world through various musical and cultural events – but with special focus on Brazil and samba.

Children’s Carnival is also in Fælledparken with workshops, play areas etc. Saturday and Sunday until, at 18:00. Friday is the institution carnival with workshops and children’s performances on stage.

Over time the carnival evolved to be Denmark’s biggest festival of world music. More than 100 orchestras, groups and artists each year make a contribute to the festivities. The event is free for all, and you can experience music from a variety of scenes in Fælledparken.

This is an event you should absolutely not miss. Whether you are into music or not -it’s a perfect opportunity to meet with your friends in the park and just have a fun day out.

NB: Information about the carnival was found on Wikipedia and the picture above is from the electronic scene in Fælledparken.

Video: Insight into Danish culture: Summerhouses

Summerhouses are a core part of Danish culture. We just love them and they are an essential part of our lives.

There are 220,000 second homes in Denmark: 203,000 summerhouses, 14,000 allotments and 2,300 other types of recreational properties.

44 percent of holiday homes situated in Jutland, 16 percent of Fyn and other islands, while the remaining 40 percent is built on Zealand.

One cottage is an average of 3.5 rooms, a living area of 67 square meters and a land value of 700,000 crowns (2004).

Over half of the country’s homes were built between 1960 and 1979. It was built as many houses in 1973, where also the building of houses boomed.

Summerhouses can be divided into three groups: Over half of higher quality houses are built of wood, a quarter of the second homes are older homes in poor quality, often lacking bath and appropriate heating, while the last group consists of large and expensive homes.

6.8 percent of households in Denmark own a summerhouse. The majority of summerhouses are owned by 50+- generation – especially older couples without children.

Two out of three homes are located more than 50 kilometres from the year-round dwelling, and every third house is more than 100 kilometres away.

84 percent of second homes have a bath, 80 percent of owners can easily heat the house in the winter, almost all (93 percent) have a television, two out of three have a washing machine and /or dishwasher, and one in four have Internet in the summerhouse.

78 percent of owners have a summerhouse to get away from everyday life and relax. Therefore they prefer the house to be in nature or close to the sea.

The video above shows you my mum’s summerhouse in Ebeltoft. It is really lovely and I spend quite a lot of time there…I love being close to the sea and the house is 5 minutes walk from the beach 🙂

Source: Center for Housing and Welfare: ‘Holiday in Denmark. Who has them and how are they used?

Frederiksberg Have (garden) in Copenhagen

Frederiksberg Gardens are laid out as a garden in the romantic style with lots of different paths to walk. It is located in Frederiksberg, which is inside Copenhagen and about 10 minutes from my house.

Coming from the city it is amazing to walk into a huge garden (park) with lawns full of crocuses and daffodils. At the lake is Svendsen’s boating and spectacular views up the hill with Frederiksberg Palace on top. It was from this lake that the popular Frederik VI let himself drive around the canals, while reverent subjects greeted.

Other surprises in the garden is the China Pavilion of 1799, Apis Temple from 1802, Source Grotto, Wish Hill, and the Swiss House from 1801. The buildings, which will give substance to the imagination and thoughts, are hidden in exotic locations. There is also a heron colony and a rose garden.

Frederiksberg garden is an adventure worth experiencing all year around, but right now (spring) and in the summer you will see lots of couples lying around in the sun or walking around the garden on what surely looks like a first date 🙂

Frederiksberg Castle Garden is state owned and maintained by the Palaces and Properties Agency.

It’s snowing in Copenhagen and it’s April!!!!

Snowing in April in Copenhagen
Snowing in April in Copenhagen

Dear diary…While writing this to you, I hope I am still asleep and just having a nightmare. I look outside and it is freezing cold and snowing. This could not possibly be happening in April could it????

Unfortunately I am pretty sure that I am awake and not just having a nightmare. It is actually snowing outside. The picture was taken from my window (a few minutes ago)…huge snowflakes coming down.

Now I don’t know what happened with the global warming. From where I stand it feels like global freezing. I really need some sun and heat 🙂

Ashes to ashes and dust to dust: Stop moaning and start driving!

It has now been four days since all flight traffic over the northern Europe was cancelled due to the volcanic ashes from the explosion on Iceland. The airspace is still closed over: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, UK. It is partly closed over: Italy (northern airspace closed until Monday) and the flights are operating in: Greece, Portugal, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, Spain.

In the meantime the news broadcasts hundreds of articles and TV programs about people being stuck who are going to- or leaving from cities in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK.

Obviously a lot of the stories focus on sensation – like four French business men who were stuck somewhere in Denmark and "had to" hire a taxi to get home to Paris for 15.000 crowns (2700 USD). But really my question is: What happened to people’s logic? Did it disappear with the availability of cheap flight tickets?

Before the days when we were all able to pollute the atmosphere with CO2 (from flights) on a regular basis, we used to travel on buses and trains: OVERLAND TRAVEL. Doesn’t anyone remember that?

There are still regular buses and trains connecting all the capital cities in Europe!!! I understand that you can be "stuck" if you are travelling to or from Asia and South America. But to say that people, who are "merely" travelling from Paris to Copenhagen, are "stuck" is ridiculous.

Google "bus Europe" or "train Europe" and you will get thousands of entries. I went to the following website: http://www.bahn.de/i/view/GBR/en/index.shtml This website combines all train travel all over Europe – from the very South of Barcelona to the north of Norway.

I decided to figure out how long it takes to go from Copenhagen to Paris. Well I can leave tomorrow morning at 07.45 from Copenhagen and will get to Paris tomorrow evening at 20:53. The trip takes 13 hours and 8 minutes. That’s 10 hours more than flying. But honestly – we are NOT "stuck" in Europe. It’s such a small area that being stuck is for the most part more a question about comfort.

Thomas and I travelled for 9 months in South America. We did all our travel overland. This often meant 20 hour bus journeys and as you can imagine travelling from Guatemala to Bariloche in Argentina overland takes many hundreds of hours in buses. I never thought about flying.

I do sympathise with people who have engagements to attend to etc. But why not use this opportunity to reduce your carbon footprint and get back down to the ground – take the train or the bus in Europe 🙂

The spring has finally arrived in Copenhagen

Suntanning on the rooftop terrace
Suntanning on the rooftop terrace

The spring has finally arrived to Copenhagen and I feel ecstatic.

The weather is Copenhagen was 14 degrees today and we had a bright blue sky.

I am so fortunate to have an apartment with access to a beautiful rooftop terrace on which there is always sun and no wind. So today I spent most of the day suntanning and reading on the rooftop terrace.

The trees are also starting to get green leafs, but the wind is cold when you drive on bicycle. So I think I will just stay on my 30 degree warm rooftop terrace and pretend it’s already summer 🙂

“Hygge” – an insigt into Danish culture

Danish "hygge" in the summerhouse

“Hygge” is a very essential issue in Danish culture. There is no literal translation of the word, but when something is “hyggeligt” it is definitely comfortable and cosy.

Different cultures obviously have different views on what is cosy and comfortable – and in this way the Danish definition is rather unique.

“Hygge” is also often associated with the female gender and referred to when women meet or there are women among the people who meet. It is more likely to hear men say that it was fun to meet a friend than “hyggeligt”.

So what does Danish “hygge” entail. Well a lot of times it involves food – whether this being snack food or dinner or cakes. Generally we enjoy ourselves and feel cosy when we eat. It also covers things like: candles, dim light, fireplace, intimate atmosphere (anywhere) and a lot of other things (add more yourself :-))

So when you visit Denmark just remember that one of the main things for us is that a social gathering has to be “hyggelig”.

“Hygge” (written like this is also slang for goodbye).