Chilling in the park at Stella Polaris

The country’s biggest electronic music chill-out festival, Stella Polaris, has reached a coming of age this year as it celebrates its 15th anniversary and adds two more cities to its line-up. More than 30,000 people made their way to the Copenhagen event last year, and the festival looks set to attract even more people this year, thanks to its inclusion of Odense and Aalborg in the schedule.

First held in Aarhus in 1997, Stella Polaris attracted a meagre showing of just 400 people. The attendance was impressive at the time considering its organisers had dreamt up the idea of throwing an electronic music festival while they were out clubbing just two weeks earlier.

Since its humble beginnings, Stella Polaris has steamed ahead to become an annual fixture on the electronic music scene. Attracting an increasing number of followers each year, it added a Copenhagen version in 2001, and this year, it has expanded once again.

But despite growing at a rapid rate, press officer Kim Fischer says the Stella Polaris crew want to hold onto the same spirit that the festival embodied in its earliest stages. And one of the ways to keep the good vibes flowing is to continue running it as a free event, welcoming anyone from hip urban families – there is a play area to entertain the kids – to university students and groovy grandmas.

“We are the happy amateurs; we just love doing this and it’s just been an evolutionary thing that it has grown like this.  We want to keep the free spirit and keep it as an event for everyone,” Fischer said.

The festival runs thanks to the hard work of volunteers, and through funding from major sponsors. This year, however, if festival-goers want to support the event, they have the option of donating 25kr by sending an SMS with the word ‘Stella’ to 1919.

The growth of Stella Polaris has helped its organisers to secure some high-class acts over the past few years. Moby played a DJ set in 2010 and came back to play a live show last year, and the team are amped  to  have signed Danish band Laid Back to play all four shows this year.

Internationally, the line-up includes eccentric Norwegian duo Röyksopp as one of the stand-outs. The self-proclaimed two-headed monster play down-beat electronica that wraps listeners in warmth. Another offshore act is Chicane from England. Nicholas Bracegirdle, the man behind the name, is responsible for the UK chart-topper ‘Don’t Give Up’, which featured Bryan Adams on vocals. Ben Hoo is another to join the list and considering one of his biggest fans is Moby – Moby commissioned Hoo to remix two songs off his latest album – the London-based producer must be doing something right.

Back on home turf, another Dane set to play is producer Mike Sheridan, who found his feet in the electronic music scene in 2008, when his debut album claimed a spot on the local charts for seven weeks. And DJ duo Lulu Rouge are also a worthy addition. The pair have collaborated on tracks with two of the other acts to appear at Stella Polaris this year: Mikael Simpson and Laid Back.

Stella Polaris
Østre Anlæg (behind Copenhagen’s National Art Gallery); Sun; 12:00-21:00; free admission; see programme for schedules in Aarhus, Odense and Aalborg; www.stella-polaris.dk

TOP STORIES

  • Navigating big love, big moves and big feelings

    Navigating big love, big moves and big feelings

    Experts believe it takes seven years to move into a new culture, according to leading Danish psychologist Jette Simon and therapist Vibeke Hartkorn. For expat couples, the challenges of starting a new life together in Denmark can put pressure on relationships, but emotions-focused therapy can help.

  • More and more Danes are working after retirement age

    More and more Danes are working after retirement age

    Politicians debate a lot these days about when you can retire. The reality shows that an increasing number of Danes like to work, even if they can withdraw from the labor market. Financial incentives help.

  • Environmental activist fears death in prison if extradited to Japan

    Environmental activist fears death in prison if extradited to Japan

    Canadian-born environmental activist Paul Watson has been in prison in Greenland for almost 100 days awaiting an extradition decision for a 14-year-old offence against a Japanese whaling vessel that he calls a “minor misdemeanor”. The 73-year-old had previously passed through Ireland, Switzerland, Monaco, France and the USA without trouble, before Greenlandic police arrested him in July.

  • Denmark too slow to ease recruitment rules for non-EU service workers, say industry associations

    Denmark too slow to ease recruitment rules for non-EU service workers, say industry associations

    When the Danish government in January presented the first of its schemes to make it easier to recruit foreign labour from outside the EU, it was hailed by the healthcare and service sectors as a timely and important policy shift. But while healthcare changes have been forthcoming, the service sector is still struggling, say the directors of the industry association Dansk Industri and one of the country’s largest private employers ISS.

  • Jacob Mark had it all coming in rising SF party – now he quits

    Jacob Mark had it all coming in rising SF party – now he quits

    SF became Denmark’s largest party in the EP elections in June. In polls, the left-wing party is breathing down Socialdemokratiet’s neck. It is a tremendous place to be next in line in Danish politics. But today, 33-year-old Jacob Mark announced he is quitting politics at the threshold of the door of power.

  • EU leaders toughen stance on return of irregular migrants

    EU leaders toughen stance on return of irregular migrants

    EU leaders agreed last week to speed up returns of migrants irregularly entering the bloc. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen is pleased, describing Denmark’s previous attempts to pitch a stricter asylum and migration policy to the EU as “like shouting into an empty handball hall in Jutland”. But not all leaders are enthusiastic.

Connect club

Connect Club is your gateway to a vibrant programme of events and an international community in Denmark.

Sign up here

Career

  • Come and join us at Citizens Days!

    Come and join us at Citizens Days!

    On Friday 27 and Saturday 28 of September, The Copenhagen Post will be at International Citizen Days in Øksnehallen on Vesterbro, Copenhagen. Admission is free and thousands of internationals are expected to attend

  • Diversifying the Nordics: How a Nigerian economist became a beacon for inclusivity in Scandinavia

    Diversifying the Nordics: How a Nigerian economist became a beacon for inclusivity in Scandinavia

    Chisom Udeze, the founder of Diversify – a global organization that works at the intersection of inclusion, democracy, freedom, climate sustainability, justice, and belonging – shares how struggling to find a community in Norway motivated her to build a Nordic-wide professional network. We also hear from Dr. Poornima Luthra, Associate Professor at CBS, about how to address bias in the workplace.

  • Lolland Municipality launches support package for accompanying spouses

    Lolland Municipality launches support package for accompanying spouses

    Lolland Municipality, home to Denmark’s largest infrastructure project – the Fehmarnbelt tunnel connection to Germany – has launched a new jobseeker support package for the accompanying partners of international employees in the area. The job-to-partner package offers free tailored sessions on finding a job and starting a personal business.

Want to advertise your job with CPH Post?

Contact us

Jobs