{"id":5229,"date":"2015-06-22T04:26:39","date_gmt":"2015-06-22T02:26:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/?p=5229\/"},"modified":"2017-01-20T21:56:02","modified_gmt":"2017-01-20T21:56:02","slug":"sankt-hans-2015-in-copenhagen-see-the-straw-witches-burn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/sankt-hans-2015-in-copenhagen-see-the-straw-witches-burn\/","title":{"rendered":"Sankt Hans 2015 in Copenhagen – see the straw witches burn"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sankt Hans Eve, the Danish answer to midsummer’s eve, is celebrated on the evening of 23 June with a host of bonfires. Traditionally, a straw figure of a witch is burned. <\/p>\n

This traditional Danish celebration has adopted many interpretations. The Vikings had a midsummer gathering to ward off evil spirits, while Christians combined it with the celebration of John the Baptist (J\u00f8hannes D\u00f8beren), also known as Sankt Hans.<\/p>\n

In the medieval era, this midsummer period was known as a time when the wise men and doctors would gather their medicinal herbs for the year. <\/p>\n

Witch burning<\/h2>\n

Many also believed that witches adopted the same practice of gathering ingredients for their potions, and would meet up afterwards in the Brocken mountain region in Germany. <\/p>\n

On Sankt Hans, to scare off the witches, large fires were lit in public areas. It was only in the last century that the practice of burning an effigy of a witch began. Straw and hay figures dressed in old clothing are set ablaze into the night sky while everyone gathers, drinks beer, and sings songs to celebrate the midsummer’s night. <\/p>\n

Bonfires are taking place city-wide, so there’s bound to be a celebration near you. Here are some of the best ones in 2015:<\/p>\n

Enghaveparken <\/h2>\n

The Vesterbro park will host music, organic eats and a speech from The Red-Green Alliance’s spokesperson and Member of Parliament Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen. <\/p>\n

Enghaveparken
\n2450 KBH V
\nCheck out the Facebook event <\/a> (in Danish). <\/p>\n

Kildev\u00e6ldsparken<\/h2>\n

Former Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt will say some words at the festivities taking place in this beautiful park in Charlottenlund, north of Copenhagen. <\/p>\n

Kildv\u00e6ldesparken
\nCharlottenlund 2100
\nCheck out the Facebook event <\/a> (in Danish). <\/p>\n

Tivoli Gardens<\/h2>\n

The event begins at 20.00 at the lakes inside Tivoli Gardens, where a bonfire will be lit on the water while the Tivoli Orchestra plays the classic Sankt Hans tune ‘Midsommervisens’. This event is not free, however, as entrance to Tivoli is required.<\/p>\n

Vesterbrogade 3
\n1630 K\u00f8benhavn V
\nCheck out the Tivoli website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bl\u00e5g\u00e5rdsplads <\/h2>\n

This central square on Bl\u00e5g\u00e5rdsgade in N\u00f8rrebro will hold a little celebration of it’s own, lighting a bonfire in the middle of the big square. Vistors can take to the nearby bars on the popular drinking street afterward. <\/p>\n

Bl\u00e5g\u00e5rds Plads 2,
\n2200 KBH N
\nCheck out the Facebook event <\/a> (in Danish). <\/p>\n

Islands Brygge <\/h2>\n

If you celebrate on the harbour at Islands Brygge, outside the Culture House you’ll find barbeques, and a range of diverse music acts from jazz to rumba-swing. <\/p>\n

Islands Brygge 18,
\n2300 Amagerbro
\nCheck out the Facebook event <\/a> (in Danish). <\/p>\n

universitypost@adm.ku.dk<\/p>\n

Do you have a good story? We would like to hear from you<\/a>. In the meantime, like us on Facebook <\/a> for features, guides and tips on upcoming events and follow us on Twitter<\/a> for links to other Copenhagen academia news stories.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is the Danish Midsummer’s Eve. Watch curious traditions play out at events around Copenhagen this coming Tuesday 23 June with our updated selected 2015 venue suggestions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":5230,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","expression-news_article"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nSankt Hans 2015 in Copenhagen - see the straw witches burn<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/sankt-hans-2015-in-copenhagen-see-the-straw-witches-burn\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sankt Hans 2015 in Copenhagen - see the straw witches burn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It is the Danish Midsummer's Eve. 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Watch curious traditions play out at events around Copenhagen this coming Tuesday 23 June with our updated selected 2015 venue suggestions","use_post_excerpt":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Byline","is_author":false,"contributors":[{"use_registered_user":false,"user":false,"contributor_name":"Alix Feldman, Updated version: Lena Rutkowski","contributor_title":" ","contributor_image":false}]},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>Sankt Hans Eve, the Danish answer to midsummer’s eve, is celebrated on the evening of 23 June with a host of bonfires. Traditionally, a straw figure of a witch is burned. <\/p>\n<p>This traditional Danish celebration has adopted many interpretations. The Vikings had a midsummer gathering to ward off evil spirits, while Christians combined it with the celebration of John the Baptist (J\u00f8hannes D\u00f8beren), also known as Sankt Hans.<\/p>\n<p>In the medieval era, this midsummer period was known as a time when the wise men and doctors would gather their medicinal herbs for the year. <\/p>\n<h2>Witch burning<\/h2>\n<p>Many also believed that witches adopted the same practice of gathering ingredients for their potions, and would meet up afterwards in the Brocken mountain region in Germany. <\/p>\n<p>On Sankt Hans, to scare off the witches, large fires were lit in public areas. It was only in the last century that the practice of burning an effigy of a witch began. Straw and hay figures dressed in old clothing are set ablaze into the night sky while everyone gathers, drinks beer, and sings songs to celebrate the midsummer’s night. <\/p>\n<p>Bonfires are taking place city-wide, so there’s bound to be a celebration near you. Here are some of the best ones in 2015:<\/p>\n<h2>Enghaveparken <\/h2>\n<p>The Vesterbro park will host music, organic eats and a speech from The Red-Green Alliance’s spokesperson and Member of Parliament Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen. <\/p>\n<p>Enghaveparken<br \/>\n2450 KBH V<br \/>\nCheck out the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/events\/1666901220211345\/\" target=\"_blank\"> Facebook event <\/a> (in Danish). <\/p>\n<h2>Kildev\u00e6ldsparken<\/h2>\n<p>Former Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt will say some words at the festivities taking place in this beautiful park in Charlottenlund, north of Copenhagen. <\/p>\n<p>Kildv\u00e6ldesparken<br \/>\nCharlottenlund 2100<br \/>\nCheck out the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/events\/581072768699861\/\" target=\"_blank\"> Facebook event <\/a> (in Danish). <\/p>\n<h2>Tivoli Gardens<\/h2>\n<p>The event begins at 20.00 at the lakes inside Tivoli Gardens, where a bonfire will be lit on the water while the Tivoli Orchestra plays the classic Sankt Hans tune ‘Midsommervisens’. This event is not free, however, as entrance to Tivoli is required.<\/p>\n<p>Vesterbrogade 3<br \/>\n1630 K\u00f8benhavn V<br \/>\nCheck out the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tivoligardens.com\/en\/program\/2015\/sankt+hans+i+tivoli+2015\" target=\"_blank\"> Tivoli website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Bl\u00e5g\u00e5rdsplads <\/h2>\n<p>This central square on Bl\u00e5g\u00e5rdsgade in N\u00f8rrebro will hold a little celebration of it’s own, lighting a bonfire in the middle of the big square. Vistors can take to the nearby bars on the popular drinking street afterward. <\/p>\n<p>Bl\u00e5g\u00e5rds Plads 2,<br \/>\n2200 KBH N<br \/>\nCheck out the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/events\/800252903416222\/\" target=\"_blank\"> Facebook event <\/a> (in Danish). <\/p>\n<h2>Islands Brygge <\/h2>\n<p>If you celebrate on the harbour at Islands Brygge, outside the Culture House you’ll find barbeques, and a range of diverse music acts from jazz to rumba-swing. <\/p>\n<p>Islands Brygge 18,<br \/>\n2300 Amagerbro<br \/>\nCheck out the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/events\/100468220296523\/\" target=\"_blank\"> Facebook event <\/a> (in Danish). <\/p>\n<p>universitypost@adm.ku.dk<\/p>\n<p><em>Do you have a good story? We would like to <a href=\"http:\/\/universitypost.dk\/article\/how-share-stories-university-post\" target=\"_blank\">hear from you<\/a>. In the meantime, like us on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UniversityPost\" target=\"_blank\"> Facebook <\/a> for features, guides and tips on upcoming events and follow us on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/UniversityPost\" target=\"_blank\"> Twitter<\/a> for links to other Copenhagen academia news stories.<\/em><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"ArticleEnd"},{"acf_fc_layout":"OtherStories","headline":"","hand_picked_posts":false,"references":false,"category":false,"theme":false,"number_of_posts":"4","style":"default"}]},"taxonomyData":{"category":[{"term_id":43,"name":"Culture","slug":"culture","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":43,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":562,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[],"post_format":[],"expression":[{"term_id":15,"name":"News Article","slug":"news_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":11485,"filter":"raw"}],"translation_priority":[]},"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/skt_hans_gargadas_flcikr.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5229"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32174,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5229\/revisions\/32174"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}