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Christmas in Denmark
Got the travel bug but nowhere to go? Join us on a holiday exploration of one of the Duckfeet USA team's favorite locations: Denmark 🇩🇰
Danes are known for how masterfully they cultivate coziness and warmth. Days of short sunlight and dropping temperatures are no match for the spirit of the holidays in Denmark. Between social Christmas markets and family traditions inside the home, we love the magic of the Danish way.
Christmas in Denmark
In Denmark, the holiday season begins much earlier than December. Starting in mid-November, the Tivoli Gardens open for the Christmas season. This festive destination provides beautiful decorated trees and traditional markets with handmade crafts and delicious treats.
Whether in the large Tivoli Gardens or in a small local town, Danes visit holiday markets in cold weather but with warm hearts. Families spend time together looking at the decorations, purchasing gifts, and enjoying Æbleskiver (similar to a doughnut hole dipped in jam and sugar) and hot chocolate or a fiery mulled wine called Gløgg.
Christmas (Jul) Traditions
Like many other European countries, Denmark celebrates the holiday on December 24. To count down the days until Jul, many families light a calendar candle. These candles, which have numbers 1-24 written down their length, are burned until that day's date melts away. When the candle has burned down to number 24, it's time to celebrate!
A traditional Danish Christmas tree is decorated with white lights and real candles (to help keep the tree from lighting on fire, most families get a fresh tree on Christmas Eve itself). Before opening gifts, family members join hands and dance around the tree singing Christmas songs together.
While kids here in the US are used to leaving out cookies for Santa, Danish children know to leave a treat (usually rice pudding) outdoors to appease the mischievous Christmas elves known as Julenisse. Leaving out this sweet dish encourages the Julenisse to play nicely for the holiday.
Food and Drink
For all of December, Danes gather to celebrate the season with long dinners or lunches, known as julefrokost. These meals are hygge at its finest: full of hearty food and leisurely company to honor the season.
Christmas dinner is no exception. Tradition suggests roasted pork or duck, baked potatoes, and red cabbage. For dessert, everyone enjoys a rice pudding called Risalamande. Topped with a cherry sauce, it's made with one whole almond somewhere inside. Whichever family member gets the serving that contains the almond gets a prize!
Want to make your own Risalamande? Try this recipe
Familiar Cities
Did you know that every Duckfeet style is named after a town in Denmark? Here are Christmas snapshots for the namesakes of two of our most popular winter models
Aarhus
Located in East Jutland, Aarhus is known for the way it celebrates Christmas. In the old town of Den Gamle By, the open air museum is decorated to honor the Christmas traditions of generations past. A giant Christmas tree lights up the center square. Visitors can stroll the town with a warm drink in-hand, see lantern-lit streets and people making traditional Danish cakes, listen to locals singing carols, and visit the beautiful markets.
See the matching Duckfeet boot: Arhus
Odense
Celebrate Christmas in the birthplace of famous fairytale writer, Hans Christian Anderson. With the famous HC Anderson Market, visitors will hear live holiday music, purchase gifts from markets, and of course, fill their bellies with warm and sweet treats. Odense is the perfect location for a true fairytale Christmas.
See the matching Duckfeet boot: Odense
