Danish culture and traditions

Most Danes will classify Christmas and the whole of December as ‘hyggelig’. December is characterized by daily Christmas calendars on TV for children (and adults), children opening Christmas calendars every morning, going to Christmas markets, drinking gløgg (Danish mulled wine/gluhwein) and eating ‘æbleskriver’ (pancake puffs), Christmas parties and lunches at work and with friends and family. Every Sunday, one of the four candles on the advent wreath is lit and when you have lit the last one, it is almost Christmas.

Danes celebrate Christmas Eve and not Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve, many people attend a Christmas service before they celebrate Christmas Eve with their family. The Christmas Eve menu is traditionally roast pork, duck, goose or turkey served with hot pickled red cabbage, boiled potatoes, sugared small potatoes and gravy followed by ‘ris ala mande’ (cold rice pudding). One or more whole almonds are put into the ris ala mande and whoever get the almond(s) wins a small present. After dinner the Christmas tree is lit, and the tradition is to sing Christmas carols while walking around the tree. After that presents are opened.

Between Christmas and New Year, Danes spend a lot of time travelling across the country to visit family and get together at Christmas lunches where a variety of cold and hot dishes is served – some of which you only get at Christmas time.

Come New Year, the focus changes some as many Danes celebrate New Year’s Eve with friends – but also with family. New Year’s Eve often starts with watching the Majesty’s New Year’s speech on TV at 18.00. It is normal to spend extra money on the dinner on New Year’s Eve – if you do not want to cook, you can order special pre-cooked three or four course New Year’s Eve dinners from many restaurants, butchers and supermarkets. Listening to the ringing of Copenhagen City Hall’s bells, drinking champagne and eating ‘kransekage’ (marzipan wreath cake) followed by fireworks mark the turn of the year. 

On Shrove Sunday, just before Lent, children celebrate ‘Fastelavn’. Fastelavn is an old catholic tradition and was a day of celebration to mark the start of the 40 days of fasting before Easter. 

Today, it is a day for children where they dress up in costumes, go from door to door asking for change or sweet in order not to make harmless trouble (= trick or treat) and in turns try to smash a barrel hanging from the ceiling. The barrel is called a ‘cat barrel’ and is full of sweet whereas it in ancient time had an actual cat inside. Normally, the child who knocks out the bottom of the barrel is crowned Cat Queen and the child who knocks down the whole barrel is crowned Cat King but traditions change. 

Like at Christmas, Danes come together for large lunches with a variety of cold and hot dishes or for roast lamb dinners. Some of the Danish Easter traditions include the sending of Easter letter (gækkebrev), painting eggs and Easter egg hunts. 

Easter letters (are also called fool’s letter) are anonymous and to take part in the tradition, you need to fold a piece of paper and cut out different shapes and designs, write a small Easter poem on it, sign it with dots equal to the number of letters in your name, and send it to a family member or a close friend. If the recipient guesses who the letter is from, the sender owes the recipient an Easter egg and vice versa if the recipient cannot guess who sent the letter. 

At Easter, it is tradition to paint eggs. Originally, people painted on the shell of eggs where the egg white and yolk had been blown out leaving the fragile shell to paint on. Today, most people paint on hardboiled eggs. 

Many people also organise Easter egg hunts for their own and others’ children – this can be family, friends or neighbours depending on tradition. 

On 23 June, it is Saint Hans Evening which is the Danish Midsummer or Summer Solstice Festival and thus the marking the longest day of the year in Denmark. The celebration of the summer solstice has pagan roots and dates back to before Denmark became Christian. Saint Hans is another celebration that Danes think of as ‘hyggelig’ – it brings local communities and people together to listen to a Saint Hans speech (often by a local politician or celebrity), sing Midsommervisen (the Midsummer Song) and watch the burning of a big bonfire. Saint Hans Evening is often organised by local associations and may include the possibility to buy dinner or make campfire bread on a stick.

In Viborg Municipality, the towns and villages organise their own Saint Hans Evenings and in Viborg, Saint Hans Evening is celebrated at Borgvold with a bonfire on Nørresø.

On 10 November, Danes celebrate the French Saint Martin, who did not want to become bishop and hid among a flock of geese. He was however caught because the geese revealed his presence and therefore Saint Morten’s Evening is celebrated by having goose (or duck) for dinner.

Halloween has become more and more common in Denmark. People dress up their houses and children dress up for Halloween and go ‘trick or treat’. Pumpkin carving and lighting pumpkin lanterns outside your home are becoming a tradition.