Kulturnatten 2021 is just a week away
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Around 250 organisations participate in Copenhagen's night of culture, including museums, theatres, libraries, churches, parks and the main government departments in the city. You can explore the royal kitchens and the stables at Christiansborg, the buildings of the law courts; the museum of banking and the studios and workshops of DR - the Danish Broadcasting Corporation.
There will be special exhibitions; demonstrations; tours and events throughout the evening so it is sensible to plan your route if you want to see as much as possible.
On the internet - if you register on the Kulturnatten site - you can flag the places that you want to visit and they are plotted onto a map and a final list can be forwarded to you as an email.
Log in on your mobile and the website includes geolocation.
You need to buy a Kulturpas from one of the museums or galleries taking part or from any 7-eleven store. All the places where you can buy the pass are listed on the site.
The Kulturpas costs 95 DKK and that covers not only entrance but also transport around the city on the evening including trains, buses and the metro.
In English that word culture has many and sometimes conflicting definitions and can be loaded so, if you describe someone as cultured, it implies they are well educated and well versed in the high arts but it can be a back-handed compliment to suggest someone who 'enjoys' high culture rather than popular entertainment. It can even be distinctly negative because a 'culture of fear' means an environment in which fear thrives.
Of course, in Copenhagen for Kulturnatten, culture has the widest possible meaning so, it is about recognising the value of the performing arts and the importance of museums and galleries that hold and curate and interpret the artefacts of our past and the arts and productions of the present.
Curiously, the meaning of culture as used in a biology lab is possibly the most appropriate. To grow a bacteria you place it in a culture in which it can grow and thrive.
Kulturnatten is an evening for families and for children with many of the events aimed at a young audience. One year I watched as dozens and dozens of young children on the stage of the opera house were taught to sing an opera chorus. Kulturnatten is always in the week of the school Autumn holiday and admission to everything is free for children under the age of 12.
Last year, with the pandemic, Kulturnatten was cancelled and 2019 was an exceptionally wet evening so attendance was down but in 2018 over 94,000 passes were sold so, with children not needing a pass, that means well over 100,000 people exploring the city and all it has to offer.
Kulturnatten really is a celebration of so much that is so good about life in Copenhagen.
