Local Round-up: Copenhagen’s new culture venue Stairway set to inaugurate

Elsewhere, China restores direct flights to Denmark, and the airport authorities increase their COVID-19 testing capacity

Copenhagen’s new culture and music venue Stairway is being inaugurated today, reports Copenhagen Municipality.

Located in Vanløse, the opening of the venue had been due to take place in the spring, but then delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The culture and leisure mayor, Franciska Rosenkilde, has high hopes for the venue. She said that Stairway could become a platform to promote new talent in Copenhagen’s “deep and wide” music scene.

For Danish and foreign artists
The venue will be a means to promote to Danish and foreign artists and create room for alternative genres.

Stairway will also attract an audience from all over the city by organising music festivals.

While the autumn program will mostly consist of Danish names, Stairway will bring foreign names to its stage in 2021.

Stairway is managed by the municipal culture house unit Do-It-Together (DIT) Copenhagen.


Parties unite on Lynetteholm development decision
A majority of the parties at Copenhagen City Hill have presented a united front in regards to the development of the Lynetteholm island and the inclusion of plans to incorporate the Metro and the extension of Østlig Ringvej between the areas of Nordhavn and Refshaleøen. The agreement will further be negotiated under the 2021 budget.

Copenhageners reduce public transport usage
Public transport usage has been considerably low since the COVID-19 outbreak. The number of passengers recorded in mid-August was 25 to 33 percent below normal. Transport authorities have predicted the decline will continue for up to five years.

COVID-19 likely to have ‘dramatic consequences’ for Xmas decorations
The Commerce & Culture (KCC) department at City Hall has said that the financial impact of COVID-19 may result in little to no Christmas decorations in Copenhagen. However, KCC head John Hansen concedes that Christmas decor helps to attract tourists from Denmark and abroad. He has accordingly approached city mayors and members of the Citizens’ Representation in Copenhagen to sponsor a budget for decorating the city.

Cultural festival to take place between September 11th and 13th
The three-day culture festival ‘Open’ is to set to commence on September 11 in Copenhagen’s Østerbro and Nordhavn districts. The festival is expected to host 50 events. The festival hopes to highlight how the two districts are culturally rich but remain largely invisible to outsiders.

City mayors undertake responsibility of the forgotten giant structures
The mayors of the six Vestegn municipalities have agreed to take on responsibility for the maintenance and restoration of the six Forgotten Giants in the suburbs of Copenhagen.  Thomas Dambo’s giant trolls have proved to be a popular destination for locals and tourists over the past three and a half years.

Authorities in Roskilde encourage drinking boiled water
Roskilde Municipality encourages drinking boiled water following the discovery of bacteria. The recommendations were issued after consultation with the Danish Agency for Patient Safety. The list of affected areas include Darup, Kamstrup, South of Kamstrup, Vor Frue, Tjæreby, Øde Hastrup, Trekroner, Marbjerg, Great Heath, Himmelev, Veddelev, Store Valbyy, Little Valby, Tågerup, Gundsølille, Østrupbæk, Kirkerup, Svogerslev and Ågerup.

Authorities working to increase COVID-19 testing capacity at the airport
The Capital Region of Denmark’s Emergency Preparedness is working to increase the coronavirus testing capacity of Copenhagen Airport. From mid-September the capacity will be ramped up to 5,000 tests a day.

Amager Center reopens with several new shops
The Amager Center shopping centre is expected to open its doors on September 17 following its upgrade. New stores include the Mens Cutting Club and the jewellery store Heronies. Starting from December, the mall will also house a tattoo store – an outlet of the Jutland tattoo chain Beauty & the Beast.

China restores direct flights from Beijing to Copenhagen
Direct flights between China and eight other countries including Denmark have recommenced following a six-month suspension coronavirus lockdown. Flights to Austria, Greece, Sweden, Thailand, Cambodia, Pakistan and Canada have also been restored. Beijing has not registered a new COVID-19 case in the past 26 days.