Fastelavn at Nordic House

Fastelavn for the young and older people will be at Nordic House on Sunday the 14th of February at 2pm.

Please bring you own picnic and bbq`s will be available, and cool drinks can be bought. The cost will be $3 per person.

History of Fastelavn: A Danish Festivity for the Whole Family

Danes will be celebrating Fastelavn on February 14th in 2010. The holiday comes seven weeks before Easter Sunday and has been described as a Nordic Halloween, since children dress up in costumes. It's a time for fun and family games, one of which is the traditional slaa katten af toenden ("hit the cat out of the barrel"). This is similar to a piñata, except the candy is in a large barrel decorated with the image of a cat. (In Medieval times, a live cat would be placed in a barrel, and the barrel was beaten with sticks until it broke and the cat escaped.

It was then chased out of the town, because people believed that it would take bad luck and evil spirits of the town with it.) Children take turns hitting the barrel with a wooden club. The one who hits the bottom of the barrel hard enough so that all the candy spills out becomes kattedronning ("queen of cats") and the child who knocks down the last piece of the barrel becomes kattekonge ("king of cats").

Another Fastelavn activity is going from door to door in the neighborhood singing and collecting candy or money, similar to the American tradition of "trick or treating" on Halloween. Many towns in Denmark have Fastelavn festivities and parades.

In early days Fastelavn marked the beginning of a period of fasting. It was the day when you prepared yourself for fasting (Lent) by eating as much as possible. In Denmark a popular baked good associated with the day is Fastelavnsbolle, a round sweet roll usually covered with icing and filled with cream. Shops and bakeries will have this treat available before the holiday actually arrives.