Traditions of Denmark

Traditions of Denmark

Christmas Days:

1. Christmas, or the Christmas Days, are 24 December, Christmas Eve, as well as Christmas Day and Boxing Day (25 and 26 December). 
2. In most homes, Christmas Eve starts with Christmas dinner, where the main course is roast goose, duck or pork with sour-sweet red cabbage and caramelised potatoes. 
3. The other important item is the Christmas rice pudding, which is either served warm as a starter or cold as rice à l’impératrice with cherry sauce as a dessert. 
4. It is important that there is one whole almond in either the warm or cold pudding. The person who gets the almond receives the so-called almond present, which traditionally is a marzipan pig. 
5. The warm rice pudding is sometimes accompanied by sweet light beer, also called Yule brew. 
6. The second highlight of the evening starts with the lighting of the Christmas tree candles, whereupon people ‘dance around the Christmas tree’, which means that they walk around the tree holding hands while singing Christmas hymns and songs. 
7. Underneath the Christmas tree there are Christmas presents, which are then distributed. In homes with children, it may be Father Christmas in the form of a dressed-up member of the family, who brings the presents. 
8. During Christmas Days, Christmas lunches are held, usually for the family. 
9. They include the same dishes as the other Christmas lunches in December, although the regional dishes are more prominent here. 
10. They may include cabbage or kale served in various ways and the associated meat dishes. They mainly consist of various kinds of pork. 
11. Formerly Christmas began on the day before Christmas Eve and continued until Candlemas (2 February) and the widespread Christmas open house made the period a time of much festivity. 
12. Today, Christmas largely ends after Christmas Days. The many different social activities associated with Christmas take place earlier in December instead.

Easter:

1. The Danes take a long Easter holiday. It starts on Wednesday evening, running through Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Saturday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday. 
2. It is another period of the year when churches are well attended. But material things of course are also a great attraction to the Danes. 
3. At Easter lunch-tables are filled with all kinds of food, Danish aquavit and a special, potent beer brewed especially for Easter – and without which many Danes would feel the holiday had been a flop. 
4. For the children (and anyone else with a sweet tooth) there are eye-catching chocolate Easter eggs, which have almost ousted the hen's natural product at this time of the year.

New Year’s Eve:

1. In Denmark New Year's Eve is often spent with friends rather than family. Almost all young people go to a big party somewhere, whereas older people often have neighbours, friends, or relatives over for dinner, or they go out themselves. 
2. A traditional New Year's menu is steamed codfish with potatoes and all sorts of side dishes like chopped, boiled eggs, pickled beets, capers, and gravy. Other popular menus are roast lobster or steaks. 
3. New Year's Eve starts at 6 pm when the Danish Queen gives her speech to the people. After the speech, the TV is usually turned off and the partying goes on till a few minutes before midnight when the TV is turned back on and you wait for the bells of the city hall in Copenhagen to start ringing. 
4. When the clock strikes 12 and the bells are heard, it is time to have champagne, marzipan ring cake, sing the national anthem and other songs in order to welcome the New Year, say farewell to the old one and wish everybody a happy New Year. 
5. Afterwards, everybody goes outside to watch the fireworks and light your own as well. Young people then continue partying all night and spend the first day of the New Year recovering. 
6. January 6 is the Night of the Three Wisemen. This is the time to light the Christmas tree for the last time, eat whatever is left of sweets and if you have any fireworks left from New Year’s Eve you fire this as well. 
7. After the Night of the Three Wisemen, all the Christmas decorations are taken down and put away, the Christmas tree is "undecorated," put outside and maybe chopped to firewood... and everyday life starts again.

Midsummer Eve:

1. On the eve before Midsummer Day, June 24, bonfires are lit to mark the changing season. On top of the bonfire a witch made of wood, cloth and firework is placed. 
2. The firework symbolizes all the witches' swift dispatch to damnation, where tradition has it that they assemble on Midsummer Eve. 
3. According to the Danish folklore this assembly takes place on Bloksbjerg – also known as Brocken – in Germany. 
4. Midsummer Eve is an opportunity for singing and public speaking. It is a beautiful sight as all along the Danish coastline and on inland hilltops fires can be seen burning long into the night.