Kulturnatten 2023

Kulturnatten is a major annual event when museums, galleries, churches, major historic buildings and departments of national and city government in Copenhagen and Frederiksberg open for an evening - most from 6pm through to midnight.

There will be special exhibitions, concerts or demonstrations and, at many organisations, there are tours of areas that are rarely open to the public so this is when citizens can see what happens behind the scenes.

At many of the venues there will be stalls for street food and drink and, because Kulturnatten is always on the Friday of the mid-term school holiday, many of the events are aimed at families.

This year 230 organisations or venues across the city will be participating.

Over the years I've seen mock trials in the law courts; explored the main rooms and offices of city hall; seen the work of conservators; explored behind the stage of the national theatre; wandered through the main rooms of the Treasury and watched demonstrations of horsemanship and carriage driving at the Royal Stables.

This year I'm planning to see inside the Mast Crane at the north end of the harbour; see the great steam engines at the power station at the south end of the harbour working and possibly this will be a chance to look around the Traffic Tower where the train system for this half of the country is controlled. I'm also keen to see rope making on Nyhavn and the displays at the Ministry of Climate.

Entry to all the buildings and events is with a Culture Pass - DKK110 for adults - that can be downloaded through an app or can be bought at 711 stores throughout the city. Entry for children under the age of 12 is free.

The pass gives free use of public transport within the city from 4pm through to 4am on Saturday and includes the harbour ferries and rides on a fleet of veteran buses brought out for the evening.

Every year has a distinct graphic style for publicity and posters from previous years can be seen on an online archive that goes all the way back to the poster from the first Kulturnatten in 1993.

Kulturnatten
programme of events
posters

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Kulturnatten 2022

This evening was Kulturnatten or Night of Culture in Copenhagen, when museums, galleries, churches, courthouse, government departments, libraries, theatres and the opera house and so much more, all open to show citizens what they do and how they work.

It's an amazing opportunity to get into major buildings that, normally, are not open to the public or at least not for people to just wander around and the evening is the chance to see behind the scenes of the major museums and galleries and theatres. Most of these organisations and institutions set up special exhibitions and they have guided tours and demonstrations with staff on hand to explain and answer questions.

Many of the events continue through to midnight and there are stalls where visitors can buy street food and drinks.

A culture pass - available from major museums and galleries - cost DKK 110 (just over £13) for adults. It gives access to everything and, with the pass. all public transport in the city is free which is useful because the venues are spread across much of the city.

Children enter free so it is an important family event and it is always scheduled for the Friday evening of the first weekend of the winter school break so it’s a real excuse for staying up late. It really is incredible to see thousands and thousands of families exploring their city at night.

Most years, I end up dashing around from one event to another - it's that fear of missing out thing - so this years I planned a tighter and slower route around the city. Somehow, since moving to the city, I have never got around to seeing the collection of plaster casts of ancient sculptures in a warehouse on the harbour so that was the start point and I wanted to see the Museum of Medicine in Bredgade, just two blocks away, so it also made sense to call in at Designmuseum Danmark nearby.

The route was not completely rational as I headed out to Nordhavn - because I wanted to see the offices of the architects Vilhelm Lauritzen - but then came back into the city and just followed my nose .... as much as anything to watch and to enjoy the broil of people having fun and learning more about their city in the process.

Kulturnatten

The Royal Cast Collection, Vestindisk Pakhus, Todbodgade 40, 1253 København
Medicinsk Museion, Bredgade 62, 1260 København K

The Royal Cast Collection in the West Indian Warehouse

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Forecourt of Designmuseum Danmark … I liked the chair by Kaare Klint in one of the original display cabinets he designed for the design museum in the 1920s but set inside one of the modern cases designed for the forecourt by the architects COBE

The Museum of Medicine is in what was the Royal Danish Academy of Surgery. The building dates from 1787 and this was the original lecture theatre.
Through the evening of Kulturnatten they had a series of lectures here.

Kulturnatten 2021 is just a week away

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.

Kulturnatten 15 October 2021

Kulturnatten / The Night of Culture on Friday 11 October

Kulturnatten has been an annual event in the city for 26 years and is on the Friday at the start of the Autumn break for schools.

More than 250 museums, theatres, libraries, churches, government ministries, city institutions, including the city hall and the court houses, and parks open for the evening with special events, displays, lectures and tours to show what they do and why.

There is street food and often drinks and food in the venues themselves. Entrance is free with the culture pass - this year just 95 kroner for adults - and with that pass all public transport around the city is free.

With so many events and spread around the city - from Frederiksberg and through the historic centre and down to Amager - its sensible to look at the programme and plan a route around what you want to see. Nearly everything starts at 6pm and runs through to at least 10pm with many continuing on to midnight or later. It is a huge and popular evening for families and this really is Copenhagen at its best and most open and most friendly.

Kulturnatten PROGRAMME