See you in August

Tomorrow early morning I will be on my way to Spain! So this will be the last post before mid-August. What should you spend your time on then, if you are not lucky enough to go to Roskilde Festival this week? Or if the weather stays like it is today and you have to stay in Denmark?

I have collected a list of other festivals in the time where I am out traveling!

Here we go!

Copenhagen Jazz Festival

From July 5th to July 14th!

Lots of lovely jazz music in Copenhagen for an entire week! Most events are free, and those that are not, are not very expensive.

Web page: http://jazz.dk/Program#q=&d=&t=&v=&s=&e=&u=

CPH Opera

From July 28th to August 4th

I did not know that Copenhagen had an opera festival, but it is a great opportunity to learn about it or learn more

if you are already a fan. You will need a ticket for most of the events, but there should be some free ones too.

Web page: http://copenhagenoperafestival.com/en/calendar/

Fringe Jazz Fest

From July 5th to July 14th

Specialized in New Orleans music: jazz, blues, brassband, funk and swing. It is sure to bring some warmth to 

Copenhagen and sure to make you move your feet. Most events are free!

Web page: http://www.fringejazzfest.dk/

Bas Under Buen

July 20th

A whole day of free concerts, mostly dubstep, bass and dancehall! Right outside my window! I went last year and

it was a blast! Outdoors and for free.

Web page: https://www.facebook.com/events/262288420576273/?ref=22

Henry's Dream

From July 18th to July 21st

A new music/performance festival outside of Copenhagen (specific location is yet to be revealed). 575 kroner for 

a couple of days as a part of Henry's dream. That's really all I know!

Web page: http://www.henrysdream.dk/

Musik I Lejet

From July 18th to July 20th

Set in the beautiful Danish summer paradise Tisvildeleje beach, this lovely festival presents a pretty solid lineup

for the two days it lasts. It looks soo awesome and comes in a lot cheaper than Roskilde with only 150-225 kr.

Web page: http://www.musikilejet.dk/program2013

Open Air in Ørstedsparken

From July 25th to July 27th

Cold beer, three movies and popcorn at Copenhagens LGBT film festival, but don't worry - its for everybody!

Stay tuned at their web page for info!

Web page: http://mixcopenhagen.dk/

Also be sure to check out the slightly more expensive festivals Vanguard Festival and Trailerpark Festival!

Enjoy the Danish summer,

All the best,

Nanna

What's up with all the young people with hats on?

Why are they everywhere now?
And why are they drinking the whole time?

Ahhh, confusion!

Well, they are happy and drunk because they finished their 3 years in Gymnasium, Technical Gymnasium or a bunch of other schools similar to that. Here is an illustration of the various types of hats! The most common are the red and blue. The black depends on either family traditions or traditions on the school you graduate from. Some schools dedicate the black hat to mathematical students, some to greek/latin students, some to elite students. The illustration i borrowed from Politiken.dk.



There are plenty of traditions for the hats. Your friends should bite the black part of the hat and then write something inside the hat for you. Your final grade will be written in the middle of the inside of the hat where there is usually a gold version of your schools logo. If your boy/girlfriend write their name in the gold, you will eventually marry them. There is also a "secret" part of the hat for dirty messages. Ooohh! There is a ton of other rules about cutting out stuff of the hat. Bathe naked, cut a wave in the inside of the hat. Drink a case of beer, cut a square in the inside of the hat. Watch a sunrise, cut a triangle. And about 50 other ones, differing from school to school.

They will be happy and proud to tell you about their hats, and even more so if you congratulate them. It is common for strangers to congratulate the new students on their hats. This week, most of them has been partying all day and night since they finished their final exam.

Tomorrow and saturday, it will get even more weird. They usually gather at their school in the morning for their graduation ceremony - after that, decorated open trucks will wait for them and they will go and visit everyone from their class in the truck. Where I'm from, all the students then drive to the fountain downtown to dance around it. The student with the highest grade average will be thrown in the fountain! In Copenhagen, they will dance around Storkespringvandet on Strøget! After that, the tour starts! A drink and a snack at all the places, then back to the truck with music playing and beer provided by the girl in class with the largest head and the boy with the smallest head.

The truck is usually decorated by the class a year below the graduated class. They also provide a case of beer. Birch branches, flags, balloons and banners are the common decorations. The banners are usually naughty! Some of them tells dirty stories of the graduated class, most of them tell the cars passing by to honk for the students to flash. Therefore, a lot of honking is to be heard on the Danish roads tomorrow!

There are usually some 20 students in each class, so the driving takes all day and usually they continue until the morning after. Therefore many of the bars in Copenhagen will be even more fun to go to! More people partying like crazy! They might be young but they are also a lot of fun - at least to observe!

Mystery solved!




"We puke in your back yards"
Best,
Nanna

Thursday: Afterparty w/ the Odd Future crew @ Rust

If you want to experience a wild afterparty show by the OFWGKTA crew (and party with them), better hurry up and get tickets. The party is thursday, this week, midnight at Rust, KBH. Less than 100 tickets left! Get them here: http://www.billetlugen.dk/musik/30215/odd-future-official-afterparty/



YAY,
Nanna

Sankt Hans celebrations

So, today is Sankt Hans. This means that most Danes will gather around a bonfire when it starts to get dark. Most bonfires will be decorated with a home made witch! But why all this weird stuff?

Sankt Hans has much in common with the Swedish Valborgnatt or the German Walpurgisnacht celebrated the night before May 1st, also with bonfires and maypoles!

Except that this is two days after equinox and we have no poles, but witches on bonfires. Hm. How does this connect? Some people mean that Sankt Hans is a leftover from a pagan tradition celebrating the longest day of the year. Some people argue that Christian missionaries re-interpreted the customs so that it fit some sort of Christian celebration. Regardless, the midsummer celebrations were always important in Scandinavia, as the winters are soo long and dark. The idea was that this one of the longest nights of the year was magic! Therefore people would seek to sacred places and pick special herbs to make use of the magic. The witch-thing comes in here. They were said to fly to Bloksbjerg in Harzen, Germany on this evening and night. The witches on the bonfires are adopted from the Germans. The purpose was to scare away witches and evil spirits instead of burning actual witches.

It is usually celebrated with both public and private arrangements. People will often have a barbeque party before the bonfire. Usually some local known face will give a speach at the bonfire and people will sing when it is lit.
So where can you experience the bonfires? Basically anywhere near a lake or the ocean.

Here are some in Copenhagen:

Knippelsbro - Kayak Republic, right by one of the lakes. Large bonfire, live music and a floating beach lounge! From 18: http://www.aok.dk/byliv/sankthans-paa-vandet

Frederiksberg Have - One of the traditional Sankt Hans celebrations of Copenhagen. The park is really beautiful too. From 18:45. Free.

Fælledparken - Café Pavillonen. The cute little building by the lake in Parken will be making the bonfire on Østerbro. Live band (The Executives) from 20-23. There will be barbeque from 18, bonfire at 22. And it's free too! http://www.aok.dk/byliv/sankthans-i-faelledparken

Nyhavn - Bonfire on the water, bars on the landside. Tons of people and a lot of music. Bar from 14, speech from 21.45, bonfire from 22. Also free! http://www.aok.dk/byliv/sankt-hans-i-nyhavn

And of course, Tivoli! Bonfire in the lake at 21:30, a traditional orchestra and a Big Band. You still have to pay the Tivoli entrance, though.

Blågårds Plads, Nørrebro. Bonfire, koncerts, kitchen, samba and singalongs. Free and from 16, barbeque at 17:30 and bonfire from 21:15. DJ's until 23! It's sure to be one hell of a street party!

And the largest bonfire in Copenhagen can be found at Docken! It will be lit at 21! And it's free to go there!

Bakken will also have one! In fact, they will celebrate it along with their 430th anniversary and have a huge midsummer party! From 19. The bonfire will be by the lake!




"AAAhhh a witch, burn her!!"

Happy Sankt Hans,
Nanna

Dance classes in Fælledparken

Free dance classes at the Dance Pavillion in Fælledparken from June 24th - July 25th! I tried some of themlast summer and it was great fun! From 19-20. After the teaching, there is usually a band or a DJ so you can put your new moves to use. It is on the corner of Edel Sauntes Allé and Øster Allé. Please note that classes will be canceled in case of rain. In doubt? Ask on their facebookpage: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sommerdans-i-Fælledparken/90178383733

5 places to cool down during summer in CPH

Most of you have probably already seen some nice beaches while staying here. Some of you might even have seen the baths in the harbors of Copenhagen. The water is clean (so clean that seals appearantly are coming to stay, so watch out for those), the placement is practical and mostly it is just fun to try and go there to cool down (heat wave coming later this week).

There are 5 of them in Copenhagen:

• 

Vesterbro (Copacabana); 

Yeah, the name is probably a far stretch, but nonetheless.. There are 3 pools and a tower to jump from (1, 2 and 3 meters). There is also a tiny stretch of sand where you can play beachvolley! And it's free!

Webpage; Copencabana

Address: Kalvebod Brygge 55, København VOpening times: June 15th to August 31st,  kl. 11-19

Islands Brygge (Havnebadet Islands Brygge):

Probably the most central of the baths.  Features a 75m pool and two small pools for children. The tower of this bath is it's landmark. It is supposed to resemble a ship and you can jump from 1, 3 and 5 meters. No dressing rooms, but public toilets 100 meters down the street. Close to beer and ice cream as well!

Webpage:  Islands Brygge Havnebad
Address: Islands Brygge, KBH S
Opening times: June 15th to August 31st, Monday-Friday, 7-19, Saturday-Sunday, 11-19.

Amager (Helgoland):

Helgoland as it is today is not the original one (which was torn down when they made the beach at Amager). There is a common bath, one for the women and one for the men and stairs to Øresund (yeah, the ocean!). In the gender specified areas, you might see naked people,

- just so you are warned!

Webpage: Amager Helgoland
Address: Amager Strandpark, KBH S
Opening times: June 23rd to August 31st, 10-18.

Østerbro (Svanemøllestranden):

Amager is a bit far from DTU, so if you want something a bit closer, there is Svanemøllestranden! The artificial beach is very popular and is very close to the real deal.

Webpage: Svanemøllestranden
Address: Strandpromenaden, KBH ØOpening times: All year 24-7.

Sydhavnen (Koralbadet):

The newest of the baths. Placed at Sluseholmen in Sydhavnen, close to much of the "new" Copenhagen.

3 pools; a playpool for children and a small pool and a large pool (25 m). Also with a tower for jumping!

Webpage: Koralbadet

Address: Teglholmshavnen, KBH SV

Opening times: June 15th to August 31st, 11-19.

(Sorry for the messy look of this post - I have no idea what went wrong o_o)
Nanna

French dining week

This week, in the style of the winter Dining Week, there is a French dining week theme going on in Copenhagen. 28 French cafés and restaurants offers 3 dishes and a glass of cremant for 250 DKK!

See the lists of places here: http://politiken.dk/ibyen/restauranter/soeg?tekst=ibyenliste_denfranskeuge
Click the pink bubbles on the pictures to go to the webpage of a particular restaurant. Note that you might have to book a table at some of the places (specified on the webpage).

Bon apetit!
Nanna

IS BACK AGAIN :)

Dear readers,

I am terribly sorry for the total lack of any information from my side and the promised events-updates. They have not been here, because of the exam period (and a tiny bit of vacation away from my computer). But now I missed you too much.

I hope you had fun with exams, Distortion festival, Copenhell this weekend and also Northside festival this weekend! From monday, I will begin regular updates again - however, there will be another "blackout" from me in July as I will be far, far away from the internet. This only concerns events, however, as I will be working double to schedule some posts that will be brought to you automatically while I travel.

For the summer, I also plan on a makeover of the blog!

Hang in there, 3-weeks courses are almost over now!!

All the best,
Nanna