Copenhagen festivals celebrate everything the Danes (as well as our running tour guests) are fond of: music, art, gastronomy and beer and many more. Get your calendar ready because we will help you fill it up regardless of when you visit our small capital.
Copenhagen Festivals Calendar – Save the dates:
February
1 – 24 Copenhagen Jazz Festival
A great festival that focuses on music and gives a great insight into the Danish music and jazz scene, along with some more internationally renowned artists.
1 – 24 Copenhagen Light Festival,
Copenhagen light festival features light installations all through the city and is well worth a visit. Whats even better is the fact that by 6 pm its dark and you can enjoy the installations in full. Wrap up warm though 🙂
March
20 – 31 CPH:DOX (Dokumentary film festival)
Apart from the hundreds of documentary film, you can watch over the 10 days of the festival CPH:DOX also present concerts, art exhibitions and seminars. It has quickly grown to become the third largest documentary film festival in the world. Pretty good going for a small capital like Copenhagen, if you ask us!
April
Approx. 28 -30 48 hours festival
48 TIMER festival takes place in Copenhagen’s most vibrant neighbourhood Nørrebro. This Copenhagen festival features Nørrebro’s cultural life and a colourful festival program. Its local, its fun and a great option for tourists to interact with the local Copenhageners.
May
Approx. 22- 27: Copenhagen Art Week
A relatively new festival for culture fans focusing on modern art. Each year they pick a different art theme and build the festival around it. Worth checking out and there is for sure something that will catch your interest.
29 May – 2 June: Distortion (Electronic Music street festival)
Distortion Festival turns the city into a party heaven with its daytime parties and underground night clubs for a long weekend. What is unique about Distortion is that it’s a street festival, which means that the local Copenhageners simply party in their own streets. Each day is a different neighbourhood, so the more days you party at Distortion the more of the city you will experience. This street festival is also great for children and elderly and it s a super welcoming crowd, so Distortion comes with my warmest recommendations.
Distortion is “free” to participate in the different neighbourhoods, but they sell a “god stil” (good style) bracelet that costs a bit more than 100 kroners and it shows that you are contributing to the festival and the logistics around it. One of the major expenses for Distortion is the cleaning after the parties, and the God Stil bracelet supports this work. So if you are going – go in style :-).
The latest years Distortion has moved to Refshaleøen on the Friday and Saturday and in order to participate in this part of Distortion you need to buy a pass/bracelet. Go to their website to get your hands on one of these and enjoy this exceptionally unique party in Copenhagen.
This is truly one of our favourite Copenhagen Festivals!
23 May – 1 June: CPH Stage (Theatre festival)
Celebrate Copenhagen’s performing and contemporary art together at the theatres of Copenhagen. It is a great way for non-Danes to experience Danish theatres and again it will introduce you to the local creative scene as well as make you mingle with the Danish art crowd.
June
Approx 3 – 4 : Copenhagen Carnival
Copenhagen Carnival is a festival for anyone regardless of sex, ages, religion, ethnicity. Two summer days when Fælledparken and the streets of Copenhagen are filled with samba music and happy dancing people. Great for children as well!!
19 – 22: Copenhell (Heavy Metal festival)
Beer, heavy metal and some heavy band names, all of this taking place on the trendy, industrial and upcoming island Refshaleøen. Put on your black t-shirt and get ready to headbang to some dark and heavy tunes at this Copenhagen Festival.
July
5 -14: Copenhagen Jazz Festival
Copenhagen has been known for being a jazz capital since 1950s and 1960s explaining why the Copenhagen Jazz festival has been taking over Europe as one of the most important music events. We used to do running tours during the jazz festival where we ran from concert to concert, but for a few years we have moved away from this, as it was so difficult to move runners from one to the other concert, as the music was too enchanting. So now we recommend that you simply walk the sunny streets of Copenhagen and let you be guided by the jazz music that comes from pretty much every street corner.
28 July-8 August: Copenhagen Summer Festival
Each year since 1969, young talents pair up with high-profiled artists in the heart of Copenhagen, right by the end of Nyhavn to bring classical chamber music closer to your heart. And when in Nyhavn, you may as well enjoy
August
29 July-5 August: Copenhagen Opera Festival
For a week, the streets, canals, halls and homes of Copenhagen are taken over by world-class opera singers. Copenhagen Opera Festival brings the tradition and innovation, fresh talents and experience together. Lots of both free and paid events.
1-4: Strøm
With the aim of strengthening and uniting Danish electronic music and bring the community more together. If there is a word describing Strøm festival its “folkelig” which according to google means “popular”, but to be honest it is not the best translation. Folkelig means approachable for everyone, inclusive, easy going – you get the picture I am sure. There are so many free events for all ages, so go check this festival out.
13-18: Copenhagen Pride (LGBT festival incl. Pride Parade)
Every August Copenhageners celebrate the “Love of freedom and freedom of love” together with parties, concerts, awards and plenty more LGBT activities. These are the days when the rainbow flags are on the City Hall and Copenhagen a gay and proud for a handful of days. Its a party for everyone and gays and non-gays come together in one big happiness extravaganza. The Pride Parade is always on the Saturday and watching this comes with our warmest recommendation. You will see politicians, celebs and perhaps even a member of the Royal Family.
23 aug -1 sep: Copenhagen Cooking & Food Festival
Copenhagen’s food scene is strong and Copenhagen Cooking has become the most important food festival in Scandinavia where you can try new trends and get a unique food experience. There are is everything from eating with strangers at long tables in the middle of the street, to unique gourmet experiences. There are free or inexpensive events as well as events, that will make a bigger dent in your wallet. Regardless of where, when, how and how much, all the Copenhagen Cooking events are fun and super high quality.
Approx. 10 – 11 Haven
A festival about enjoying good things in life such as art, music, food and beer. All your senses will come alive for these two days. A new festival that is held on Refshalvøen and which has a pretty impressive band line up.
Approx. 24-26: Copenhagen Yoga Festival
A long weekend all about yoga and celebrating life with like-minded enthusiasts and international presenters taking place in a beautiful setting at Tiøren, Amager Strandpark.
23-25: Kulturhavn (Culture Festival at Copenhagen Harbour)
Kulturhavn Festival is completely free and it invites you to celebrate Copenhagen’s harbour. The harbour that has an essential role in the life of Copenhageners in many different aspects and is becoming a cultural epicenter. There are lots of activities happening this weekend and open to everyone, so knock yourself out.
September
5 – 9: World Music Festival
Music from all four corners of the world meeting in Copenhagen. As the city is becoming more and more multicultural, this festival raises awareness of the great cultural and musical diversity to help the city become more welcoming to the new and exciting music styles.
27 September-10 October: CPHPIX/Buster (Feature film festival)
The sibling of CPH:DOX, CPHPIX and Buster have become one big festival for all ages showing quality films from a wide spectrum of countries and cultures.
October
26 October – 4 November: MIX Copenhagen LGBTQ Film Festival
One of the oldest gay film festivals in the world and the biggest in Denmark seeks to question and explore sexual boundaries.
We hope you enjoy some of the amazing events Copenhagen has to offer. If you would like to find out about running event in Copenhagen, check out our post on Copenhagen Running Races 2019.
Enjoy 🙂
