With EU elections and the 175th anniversary of the constitution, June this year is a bit busier than normal. Here’s what you need to know about what’s going on.
EU elections on June 9th
Danish citizens and EU citizens living in Denmark will vote in EU elections on Sunday, June 9th, although early voting has been possible at postal voting locations across the country since April 28th.
To vote on election day, you must appear in person at the polling place listed on your election card. Polling stations will be open between 9am and 8pm.
Bigger than usual celebrations as Denmark celebrates 175 years of its constitution
This year, King Frederik X and Queen Mary will take part in the 175th anniversary celebrations of the Danish constitution. The constitution was signed by King Frederik VII back in 1849.
The celebrations will start with a service at Holmens Kirke church, and continue with an event in the Landstingssalen room at the Christiansborg Palace, the seat of the Danish parliament.
Søren Gade, the chair of the parliament, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and the President of Denmark’s Supreme Court, Jens Peter Christensen, will all hold speeches.
For the general public, Denmark’s public broadcaster DR has teamed up with the parliament to host a Constitution Festival at DR Byen, its headquarters in Copenhagen, with music, group singing, speeches and panel discussions starting from 9am.
Denmark’s Education Minister Mattias Tesfaye will be present, as will Emma Holten, the Danish-Swedish human rights activist and celebrity debater, and Knud Romer, the novelist and advertising executive.
Danish PM to attend inaugural Global Peace Summit
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen is set to attend the first Global Peace Summit in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, on June 15th and 16th, working for peace in Ukraine alongside US President Joe Biden.
Denmark’s Nationalbanken ends citizen input into new notes
Until June 2nd, you can leave your mark on Denmark’s future banknotes by taking part in the Nationalbanken’s survey and giving your opinion on the new notes. Here’s the press release and here’s the survey.
New strech of M4 Metro line opens in Copenhagen
On June 22nd, King Frederik X, Transport Minister Thomas Danielsen and Copenhagen’s Lord Mayor, Sophie Hæstorp Andersen, will open the extension to the M4 Metro line to København Syd station in Valby, at an all-day celebration in Mozarts Plads featuring popular stars Peter AG, Peter Sommer, Katinka, Carl Emil Petersen, and JJ Paulo.
The day will see five new stations open on the Copenhagen Metro — Havneholmen, Enghave Brygge, Sluseholmen, Mozarts Plads and København Syd — linking Copenhagen Central Station to Valby in southern Copenhagen.
The new line will allow people to travel from Copenhagen South in Valby to the Rådhuspladsen in central Copenhagen in anout 10 minutes and to get from Copenhagen South to Frederiksberg at the other end of the M4 line in about 17 minutes
You can buy your DSB travel pass from June 4th
The popular summer ticket scheme from the Danish train company DSB is back for the fifth year in a row. The rejsepas (travel pass), gives the holder free access to all public transport in Denmark for eight consecutive days between June 29th and August 11th.
It will be released for sale on June 4th and available to buy until August 3rd.
The pass can be used on all DSB trains, as well as on Arriva buses and trains, on the Copenhagen Metro and S-train, on the Letbane in Aarhus and Odense, and on local rail services.
It will cost 399 kroner for adults, meaning one rail journey between Jutland and Copenhagen is likely to see its costs covered.
Adult travellers can bring two children under 12 with them for free. The pass costs 199 kroner for children aged 12-15 or otherwise not travelling under an adult ticket.
Get ready for Denmark’s music festival season
The NorthSide festival in Aarhus kickstarts Denmark’s summer festival season on 6th-8th June, followed shortly afterwards by the Heartland festival at Egeskov on the island of Funen, both from June 13th to June 14th.
For lovers of hard rock and metal the Copenhell festival from June 19th to June 22nd is not to be missed.
Then, for the weekend of June 27th-29th, the festivities move back across the Great Belt Bridge for the Tinderbox Festival in Odense on Funen.
The month of music then culminates with Denmark’s oldest and largest music festival, Roskilde, between June 29th and July 6th, although arguably all the biggest days are in July.
Politicians to meet on Bornholm for giant political festival
Music festivals aren’t the only type of festival happening in Denmark.
Between June 13th and June 15th, the leaders of Denmark’s political parties will take to the stage at the Folkemøde political festival on the island of Bornholm, which every year draws 50,000 attendees, many of them just ordinary citizens interested in politics.
The festival is held in the picturesque town of Allinge on the island’s north coast and anyone can attend the events without requiring a ticket.
The best way to get to Bornholm from Copenhagen is to take the train from Copenhagen to Ystad in Sweden, and then get the Bornholm ferry.
School’s out for summer
Denmark’s primary and lower secondary schools break up for the summer on Friday, June 28th for a full seven weeks.
The semesters for Copenhagen University, Aarhus University, and the University of Southern Denmark all officially end on June 30th, but as the 29th and 30th fall on the weekend, their last day is effectively the same as for schools.
For Danish youths graduating from upper secondary school, the last two weeks of term, starting from about June 14th, will be a blur of alcohol consumption and raucous outdoor partying, as they participate in the traditional studenterkørsel, which involves groups of students hiring trucks which they brightly decorate before using them to tour around town partying.
Get ready for this year’s Sankt Hans Aften bonfires
Sankt Hans Aften, when people sing in chorus before lighting a giant bonfire and eating and drinking late into the light summer night, is one of the absolute highlights of the Danish calendar.
The celebration always takes place on the evening of June 23rd, with Sankt Hans day being the following day, June 24th. It is therefore slightly after actual midsummer, which is the solstice on June 21st. This year it falls on a Sunday so celebrations may start earlier and perhaps go on later than in a normal year.
You can find our article on the best places to celebrate here, and we’ll update it in the weeks leading up to the big event.
