Almost twice as many students as last year headed to the fifth edition of Folkemødet on Bornholm last week on Thursday.

Travelling by bus from various folk high schools in Jutland, Funen and Zealand, they were eager to participate in the many political debates and events.

“I am going to Folkemødet to get an insight into politics that I wouldn’t otherwise be able to get,” Jeppe Ejdal Lundsgaard from Værløse told the Weekly Post.

“I expect a different kind of festival than what I have experienced before, and I hope to get a better understanding of the coming elections, including who to vote for.”

Despite cancellations by MPs and last-minute changes, a packed program of debates, events, networking parties and concerts was prepared for the students.

Politics and partying
Before joining the crowds of political enthusiasts and participating in their own school debates, the students started each day by singing together – a common tradition at folk high schools. The evenings belong to concerts and partying.
The Danish folk high schools regularly send their students to Folkemødet to engage in dialogues concerning democracy with politicians and each other.

The people’s political festival, as Folkemødet is known in English, is an annual public gathering that aims to remind people how important it is to protect and appreciate open Danish democracy.

The event is inspired by Sweden’s ‘Almedalsveckan’, which has been held on the island of Gotland every year since 1968.