Culture Night in Copenhagen has a lot of traditions; cheap snack food at every corner, pop ups of culture you did not even know existed and way too many people in the streets, all wearing the traditional badge that allows access to all the much praised culture.
But, what if you do not have a badge? Is it still possible to have fun for free at Culture Night?
To get the best ideas for this I figured that this great light bulb is not the worst place to start 🙂 But since I had no badge, I could not visit the host at Confederation of Danish Industry (DI), so I had to move on.
As I am much interested in history, I was soon delighted to meet this beauty for a free sight:
Imagine what it must like fighting fire with a carriage drawn by horses …
Normally, a fire engine is no place to play. However, at Cultural Night the doors of the Fire Brigade in Copenhagen are wide open – so feel free to climb the ladder.
If you have a dream of becoming a firefighter one day, this might be the place to true inspiration. To set fire(!) to this dream the Youth Fire Brigade offered a minor show of fire fighting. And this turned out to a little too tempting for this charming lady doing a selfie in front of the fire. A cool fireman in spe, perhaps?
Is your teddy bear hurt? Have no fear, the hospital is here … As a fun and easy way to teach young children about hospitals and National Health Service “Hospital for Teddy Bears” is open, staffed with professional nurses who can help you diagnose your bear or put his arm in a cast if necessary.
In the middle of all the fuzzing and buzzing it is easy to forget the simple free goods. Like this beautiful sight of Copenhagen by night. Take a moment to enjoy.
(Look how Thorvaldsens Museum has dressed itself in purple for the night!).
At the home of Danish Democracy I spotted this long line of people.
I suppose there is not much fun in queuing, but the funny thing is that every single year hundreds of people line up to get through security check and into the halls of Christiansborg to … what exactly? To meet a nice politician? I guess power attracts.
I love music. That is why I was delighted when I happened to walk into a concert. It turened out to be with the Danish band Yellowbellies in order to celebrate Nordic Cooperation within Culture. The music was fine melodic rock entering the stage right after Icelandic DJ-crew Human Woman breaking much more hardboiled beats. What a way to celebrate diversity within cultural brotherhood.
Speaking of music … No Culture Night without Drummer Man. He is known to drum up possibly everything he can get hold on. This night he has caught up with a kitchen theme and a friend to support. What a crew to add noise at the front of the posh boutiques in central Copenhagen!
Well, it just seemed so hilarious and at the same time full of inner strength that a small group choose to do a yoga-session a few feet away from this noisy gentlemen. Again, Culture Night is all about trying alternative experiences, and they all seemed to cope pretty well.
In need of a little more action, I turned to the Red Bull Illume photo exhibition. It is simply amazing how these athletes look through the lens of a camera – with a much skillful photographer to push the button, that is. Join the journey around the world to meet all kinds of extreme sports.
As I end my tour in the streets with a sight to the famous Round Tower (reaching 42 m high in the air), I conclude that you actually can have free fun at Culture Night. Of course, I missed out on much of the reflective cultural experiences that the museums offer. In the street things happen at the moment. You catch it and enjoy. Like the colourful changing of lighting stars at the Round Tower this night.
If you are already looking forward to next year’s Cultural Night – keep an eye out here.
