Advent Wreath

Danish Christmas begins with the advent wreath. The wreath has four candles and one candle is lit every Sunday of December leading up to Christmas Eve.

Calendar Candle

Another tradition is the calendar candle. This candle is marked with 24 lines, normally decorated with Christmas motives. The candle is lit every day from the 1^st of December until the 24^th of December. The candle is blown out before it burns down into the next day.

Present Calendars

Advent calendars, or Christmas calendars, take many forms in Denmark.

Most children in Denmark get a gift calendar consisting of 24 small presents, one for each day until the 24^th of December. Each gift is individually bought and wrapped by their parents.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve dinner is all about tradition. Duck or Pork are on the menu, as well as boiled potatoes, caramelized potatoes, brown gravy sauce and pickled red cabbage. It’s a heavy, old-fashioned meal that will leave you sleepy but satisfied. Vegetarians and vegans will have to bring their own dish.

For dessert, the famous Danish invention. It’s a cold, creamy rice pudding made with vanilla and almond slivers, topped with hot cherry sauce. The game with this dessert is that one whole almond is added to the bowl of pudding and you have to keep eating the pudding until someone finds the almond. The winner gets a prize!

Walking around the Christmas tree

After dinner and before opening the Christmas presents, you have to join hands and sing Christmas hymns while walking around the tree. To trigger an adrenaline rush, the tree is decorated with actual lighted candles.

Presents after dinner

Slowly, the presents are unwrapped. One package at a time is carefully chosen from underneath the Christmas tree and given to the right receiver to open, until all presents are unwrapped and Christmas is over for another year.