Denmark Celebrations

Denmark is one of the four popular Scandinavian countries of the world. The other three countries are Germany, Sweden and Norway. Known for its rich cultural heritage and customs, this Scandinavian country is also reputed for organizing a number of colorful and scintillating festivals.

Mostly, the Danish festivals are seasonal in nature. However, some of the festivals that are celebrated in this part of the world also honor some events of historical event or other socio-economic gains. Some of the popular festive occasions that are celebrated in this part of the world are enlisted below:

• Grundlovsdag: This celebration has a specialty of its own. This festive day is popular because on this very day on which the Constitution of Denmark was framed. The day is celebrated on Sunday which is tentatively close to the 5th of June every year. The Americans and Canadians of Danish origin celebrate the day as ‘Danish Day’. Picnics, Concerts and Community celebrations are the main attractions in these celebrations.
  
  
• Rebild: The Day is celebrated every year since 1948. Rebild is the idea of Danish immigrants in other countries of the world. This festival is celebrated every year on July 4 and it marks some sort of homecoming for the persons of Danish origin from other countries of the world. Rebild is celebrated in the Rebild National Park in Aalborg to upgrade the friendly ties between Denmark and the US. Couple of days of ancestral research, ceremonies, receptions and various other cultural events is the other attractions of this celebration.
  
  
• St. Urho’s Day: It was a day on March 16 in which the Americans, who later migrated to Finland, gave a party in honor of St. Urho. The historical part of this festival was that on this very day, St. Urho was instrumental in saving the crops cultivated grapes from grasshoppers. There is a popular belief that he removed the grasshoppers from the country by chanting hymns ‘Heinasirkka, heinasirkka, meme taalta, hiiteen’ which means in English as such “Grasshopper, grasshopper, go to hell.”
  
  
• Finn Fest: This is a yearly festival celebrated on Finish-American intermixing.
  
  
• Feast of Valborg: This is a Swedish celebration generally held every year on 30th of April, marking the end of winter. This festival is also known as Walpurgis Night. Walpurgis Night is the time when the Swedish welcome the beginning of the spring season. Parties are organized and various poems composed by the poets welcome the onset of the spring.
  
  
• Christmas Eve: Christmas Eve is the prime festival prior to the beginning of the Christmas Season every year. In the Niordic countries, traditional type smorgasbord food is present. In many Danish American families, who come out with open house service on the eve of Christmas.
  
  
• St. Lucia Day: On December 13 every year, the eldest daughter of a family gets dressed in a white gown. She also carries a crown of candles with coffee, saffron bread and cookies served to the parents in bed.