Birthday of HM Queen Margrethe II in Århus.

Apr 162011
 
 April 16, 2011  Posted by  Events, Tourism, Tradition No Responses »

(Picture Daniela Lot)

The Danish Queen Margrethe II celebrated her 71st birthday at the Marselisborg Palace in Århus today. This city is the largest city of the peninsula called Jutland. Normally the Queen celebrates her birthday in Copenhagen, which is about 3 to 4 hours away from Århus. Many people of Jutland therefore seized the opportunity to visit the Palace in Århus to wish the Queen a happy birthday.The field in front of the palace was open to the public and officials estimated that around 5000 people visited the occasion.

At 12:00 the Queen and HRH the Prince Consort Henrik appeared on the steps of the palace. Birthday songs where sung and people waved their flags and cheered, closely followed by the press with their large zoom lenses. They had plenty of time as the Queen and the Prince Consort returned twice to the steps to wave to the delighted crowd. After that people quietly left the area in good spirits.

The Danish television company TV2 has a video of the occasion.

Brinck to the Eurovision Song Contest – The Danes can Believe Again.

Feb 042009
 
 February 4, 2009  Posted by  Entertainment, Events No Responses »

I didn’t read yet what happened, but he won nevertheless: Niels Brinck- “Believe Again” won the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2009. There was a hiccup in the beginning, but the experienced singer stroke back and delivered a convincing performance.

The Dansk Melodi Grand Prix is the national contest that determines who is to represent Denmark on the Eurovision Song Contest that this year will take place in Russia in the month of May. Both the Danish and the European songfestival are immensely popular and their history goes all the way back to the 1950ties. The Eurovision Song Contest will be followed live on television throughout the world by appr. a 100 million people.

The Danish contest was staged as a little tournament where a jury and viewers voted for 4 songs to go to a semi-final. The 2 songs to go through to the final were then chosen solemnly by the viewers who also decided upon the winner.

The semi-final and final performance by Brinck were flawless and Denmark can look forward to a solid entry to the Eurovision Song Contest.

Links:

The site of the Eurovision Song Contest.

The official YouTube channel of the Eurovision Song Contest

Chinese New Year in Denmark

Jan 272009
 
 January 27, 2009  Posted by  Events, Politics No Responses »

In the Chinese Calendar, each year is named after a different animal. According to legend, a swimming competition between all the animals was held to define which animal would rule each year, but only twelve succeeded in finishing it. The sequence of the names of the years in the calendar was defined according to the order of arrival. 2009 was the year of the ox. That is the animal that kept swimming and its determination was going to make it to be the first to arrive, but the rat, that got a ride on the ox’s back, jumped in front of it in the end of the competition.

Meng Fan, a chinese who lives in Århus, singing the Chinese Opera. At the back, Julie Brink, from the Venskabsforbundet Danmark-Kina.

Meng Fan lives in Århus. Her you can see him singing the Chinese Opera. At the back, Julie Brink, from the Venskabsforbundet Danmark-Kina.

With this story, Julie Brink, Chairman of the Friendship Association Denmark-China (Venskabsforbundet Danmark-Kina), a non-governmental organization created in 1952 to promote friendship and understanding between China and Denmark, opened the Chinese New Year festivities in Århus. Organized by this Friendship Association, the festivities took place in the Music Hall on Sunday, January 25th, one day before the  Chinese New Year started. The Chinese Calendar is determined by the lunar phases, so its beginning varies each year.

Agreements between Denmark and China

In 2007, agreements between the governments of Denmark and China were established. The first one was a Memorandum of Understanding between China and Denmark, and the second was a China-Denmark Agreement on Mutual Recognition of Academic Degrees in Higher Education.

In 2008, three cooperation agreements between Beijing Normal University and Aalborg University were established. To know more: Danish Government’s Strategy for Knowledge Based Collaboration between Denmark and China.