Festivals & events

When it comes to street parties, Copenhagen is definitely on the top of the list of European cities organizing them. Starting from the end of April the various festivals take over the city, whether it’s just a block or one street, or, like when it comes to Distortion -time, the whole city. The official motto of the event is “Celebrating Copenhagen Street life and Modern Party Culture”, and it truly describes the event as perfectly as its name.

Since 1998 has Distortion been making the city party like there’s no tomorrow. It all started with just a one day -event “celebrating all fun and new in Copenhagen night life” , and has ever since widened to cover the city for five days, one neighborhood at a time. The party starts on Wednesday the 30th of May 2012 and it all ends on Sunday the 3rd of June at Islands Brygge for a huge chill -out event.

In 2011 there were over 157 dance floors and approximately 130.000 people attending, with over 285.000 visits. This is THE party of the year you don’t want to miss out on! So what to expect? Loads of all sorts of music and DJ’s, crazy amounts of people, fantastic atmosphere and five days of partying. As the Distortion -people say: “Behind all the arts & culture & society crap: Distortion is just a party – we want you to forget who you are and where you are – and to feel touched by the magic finger of Freedom”.

Copenhagen is definitely a city of music – all kinds of music: whether it is classic, rock, pop, world music, rap, opera, you name it, Copenhagen has it. In my opinion one of the coolest spots for experiencing music can be found in the side streets of Amagerbrogade in Amager – Amager Bio.

For almost 15 years this old cinema has served as a scene for great concerts and events, and it really offers something for everyone. Even the big stars have found their way to Amager Bio. The spring 2012 includes such names as The Gym class heroes, Jason Derulo, Shelby Lynne and many more.

They also organize concert for kids and sometimes special arrangements in the “Musiktorvet” -the music market -outside in front of the building. Tickets can be booked beforehand via their homepage. Even though the place is quite big (500 seats and 1000 standing), at least in the concerts I’ve been the atmosphere has been very intimate and warm. Highly recommending this one for all music lovers!

Kødbyen, the old meatpacking district and one of the coolest area of Copenhagen right now will host a 2 day music festival. 7 stages in old warehouses and under the open – hopefully – clear blue sky hosts a broad mix of danish upcoming bands and provides a great basis for exploring new music.

At Vesterbro Festival, everything from rock’n'roll, hip-hop, electro, dubstep to indie singer/songerwriter can be found in the lineups of the 80 bands playing this event.

The event has been growing and growing since its inception in 2003 and actually started out as a protest by the artists themselves to bring focus to the lack of practice facilities for young musicians. Since then, it has grown into one of my favorite urban events in Copenhagen.

Vesterbro Festival is full of the great “Copenhagen in summer”-atmosphere. People are happy, drinking a few beers in the sun, listening to good music; basically everything you can wish! It’s all I need and this is one of my favorite Copenhagen Events