Never mind golden days, this is about celebrating Copenhagen in its golden years

With a program promising music, film, culture, knowledge, history, treasure hunting, DJs and community, Golden Days wants to celebrate Copenhagen’s 850th birthday in style.

Most of the events are free of charge as the Danish capital delves almost a millennium into its past to deliver a festival that includes well in excess of 100 arrangements – the festival’s largest ever program.

With titles such as ‘Literature and Legends’, ‘Historic Beer Tasting’, ‘Fake News in Absalon’s Footprints’, ‘Copenhagen Tweed Ride’, ‘What is Amager?’, ‘Gin and Gender’ and ‘Wake up at Carlsberg’ – which is itself turning 170 years old this autumn – what isn’t there to like?

So who is this Absalon fella? According to the – admittedly not always strictly reliable – historian Saxo Grammaticus, it is exactly 850 years since King Valdemar the Great gave the warrior-cleric Bishop Absalon the small fishing hamlet of Copenhagen. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Absalon set about fortifying the hamlet and it soon expanded into a very profitable business enterprise. The rest, as they say, is history.

The Golden Days festival will attempt to shed light on what is unique about the city by taking its “cultural historical pulse”, providing some pointers, perhaps, as to what we and the rest of the world can learn from it.

In addition to the program and very much in keeping with the spirit of the times, as a warm-up to the festival, Golden Days has launched an online Copenhagen Canon, for which residents and visitors are asked to suggest things, events or places that are atypical Copenhagen.




  • Gangs of Copenhagen

    Gangs of Copenhagen

    While Copenhagen is rated one of the safest cities in the world year after year, it is no stranger to organized crime, which often springs from highly professional syndicates operating from the shadows of the capital. These are the most important criminal groups active in the city

  • “The Danish underworld is now more tied to Scandinavia”

    “The Danish underworld is now more tied to Scandinavia”

    Carsten Norton is the author of several books about crime and gangs in Denmark, a journalist, and a crime specialist for Danish media such as TV 2 and Ekstra Bladet.

  • Right wing parties want nuclear power in Denmark

    Right wing parties want nuclear power in Denmark

    For 40 years, there has been a ban on nuclear power in Denmark. This may change after all right-wing parties in the Danish Parliament have expressed a desire to remove the ban.

  • Tunø: An island running out of time

    Tunø: An island running out of time

    The island of Tunø harbors a community of 74 adults and one child. There are no cars and only one connection to the rest of the world. Now, climate change threatens it

  • Cross-border moves on the rise in the Øresund region

    Cross-border moves on the rise in the Øresund region

    The number of relocations across the Øresund Region is rising. As highlighted by 2023 numbers, Sweden benefits from a growing interest, especially among younger generations.

  • In conversation with Conrad Molden: The man behind the mic

    In conversation with Conrad Molden: The man behind the mic

    He’s tickled our funny bone with countless wisecracks and clever wordplay, and in the process, made Denmark feel a little more personable to many expats. An international import himself, funny man Conrad Molden has successfully carved out a niche for himself on the Danish stand-up scene, but it’s taken a solid 13 years, much trial and error, and heaps of Danglish

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