Countdown to Christmas in Denmark

For many people around the world, December is known as the month of Christmas, so it is very common to see Christmas decorations, hear Christmas music and even start to see those Christmas sales everywhere. Denmark is no exception, and in fact, Denmark LOVES Christmas! In fact, the Danes love to celebrate Christmas so much that they have many fun ways to count down to Christmas Eve!

Countdown to Christmas in Denmark!!

As a child growing up in the USA, I always had some type of countdown-to-Christmas chart. It was usually something that I had made with paper at school. I somewhat remember gluing cotton balls on Santa’s beard for each of the days of December leading up to Christmas day. Very creative…I know! The Danes like the idea of counting down to Christmas, but they do things a bit differently.

Getting ready for Christmas might mean stocking up on a few things. In Denmark, one thing in particular would have to be candles. I have always had candles in my house in the USA, but they seemed to be more for decoration than for lighting. In Denmark though, we practically light candles for every supper and special meal throughout the year, but when it comes to Christmas, there are even certain types of candles that get used more often. I never imagined that we would go through so many candles in all my life, but to be honest, it is kind of nice. 

However, to be prepared for Christmas, not just any old candle will do. You need to know which ones are used for what!

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Advent Calendar Candle (Kalenderlys)

If you live in Denmark, you will often see the advent calendar candle (or “kalenderlys” in Danish), which is a large candle that has numbers on it starting at the top with one and working its way down to the number twenty-four. These numbers go with the days of December that lead up to Christmas, so it is important to light the candle daily to let it burn down to the next number. This is a fun way to count down to Christmas, and it is a nice way to put more Danish “hygge” into our dark nights. We usually burn it during supper.

Four Candles of Advent

Now, I know that lighting a candle for each of the four Sundays in advent is not just something that is done in Denmark. In fact, we also did this when we lived in the USA. Our church also had a special holder for all the candles.  I know for sure, however, that not all Americans are accustomed to having these types of candles, but they are very common in Denmark.

When I think of advent, I think of church, but I would not say that Denmark is a religious country, by any means. In fact, I have met very few Danes here who seem quite comfortable with God in any way, but they don’t mess with tradition. It could also be that they just love lighting candles. Either way, I appreciate all of the different types of candle holders that I have seen here. We even have two in our house this year just for advent. Does that sound a bit over-the-top to you? It sounds “hyggeligt” to me! 🙂

Advent Calendars in Denmark

There are other ways to count down to Christmas in Denmark, and one that we just love in our house is the advent calendar. Again, we used advent calendars in the US every year, so this tradition wasn’t new to us. Most of the time, we would get the chocolate-filled ones found in any grocery store. They would be made out of cardboard and about the size of a cereal box, but not as thick. There would be a Christmas theme on them with small windows that had the numbers 1-24 spread over each window in a very random order.

During the days of December leading up to Christmas Eve, you would open one door a day and take out the chocolate. I think we looked at these as being a German thing, and I actually think that the idea did come from Germany. No matter where they originated from, Denmark is fully on board with them as well. You will find a large variety of different types of advent calendars in most grocery stores, but they have branched out to toy stores and even toiletry stores. Cool!

My American Advent Calendar Memories

I remember selling them as a fundraiser for our German Club back in the States. I shook my head at the few who would lose all sense of control and madly rip the box open to eat all the chocolate at once. It was clear that they just didn’t “get it”! This memory haunts me every year with my own kids, so you better believe that I put my boys’ calendars out of reach. Luckily, THEY get the point, so I don’t really need to worry.

However, there is one really important thing to keep in mind when it comes to advent calendars in Denmark. That is that you really need to get one before December 1st when you should start using it. I can’t begin to tell you how sad I was that I couldn’t give my kids a chocolate advent calendar during our first year in Denmark, because I waited too long to buy them.

When is it too late to buy an Advent Calendar in Denmark?

By Nov. 30th, they were all sold out. EVERY. LAST. ONE. Wtf, Denmark? I have never seen that before. Normally in the USA, you could still get one a few days later at a steal of a price. I didn’t want my kids to miss out, so I was still thinking that I would be fine, since it was November 30th. WRONG! If you want to get a calendar, you’d better get it early. The scarcity of the calendars may vary from year to year, but take my advice, “don’t press your luck”!

Because I wanted to keep up with our family tradition of opening the advent calendar, I decided to buy the only one I could find. It was a Playdoh one. It had four tubs of Playdoh that you could use right away, and behind all of the doors was a new tool to use with your dough. The kids really loved it. I had thrown out their Playdoh before we moved, so this was a good distraction on many nights before supper. All is well that ends well!

Advent calendars aren’t just for kids! I have seen lots of different calendars that are perfect for adults as well. My husband has a beer advent calendar this year from the Thisted Bryghus in Denmark. There are 24 different, glass bottles of beer for each of the days in December before Christmas.

You can see my Thisted Bryghus Beer Advent Calendar Unboxing Video HERE!

There are also other fun advent calendars with toys inside like the Playdoh calendar. This year, my boys each have a LEGO advent calendar, which they got from St. Nick at the beginning of December. No… this isn’t a Danish thing, but a German tradition that I am passing on to my children from my own childhood. I’ve got to add a bit of me in these holidays too, you know!! 

Advent (Sunday) Presents

This leads me to Advent Presents which are presents that children get every day for 24 days or they can be presents that are given on each of the four Sundays of advent.

I, personally, think it is crazy to give my kids a present every day. I know that many people just give their kids small things, but I am SO not into that! My boys get an advent calendar with chocolate or one with a toy, but I don’t think they need anything else with that. What is the fun of Christmas if they are so used to getting presents for an entire month??? Some people are crazy, in my humble opinion.

Do my kids get advent presents?

My boys DO, however, get a present on every advent Sunday from their Danish grandmother. This is something that has been a tradition since they were born, so we don’t mess with tradition. Luckily, it is just a very small treat, toy or book, so it isn’t something that I feel takes away from the presents on Christmas. The boys really look forward to it every Sunday, and after all, it is the season for giving…right?

Are you interested in Danish holidays? Read more the Danish holiday of  Fastelavn!

Christmas Calendar Show

Another countdown method that the Danes are famous for would have to be their Christmas Calendar Shows on TV. When we lived in the USA, my husband had a DVD of a Christmas Calendar show that used puppets. It was all in Danish and made in the 80s. I’m sure it was really cool when he was little, but it didn’t grasp my attention. My kids were also not very thrilled with it. It could have been because they didn’t know Danish when we lived in the USA. Yeah…let’s say it was a language thing! 😉 I’m sure there were things that I watched as a kid that would bore my kids…right?

Nissebanden, a Danish classic, Christmas show

However, we DID get really involved with the Nissebanden show. It played everyday from December 1 to December 24 during the first year that we lived in Denmark. Each day, there would be a 25 minute segment of the show, so if you missed a day, you missed a part of the story. It just picked up where you left off each time. I thought that the idea of this was really kind of neat. I had never experienced a show quite like it before.

The Nissebanden show told the story of Santa’s elves and the man who was trying to steal all of Santa’s letters. There were no puppets in this show, but the elves seemed to be played by middle-aged adults in costumes. At first sight, it was a bit odd from the point-of-view of an outsider, but I got used to it and began to look forward to each episode.

Also from the looks of it, this show appeared to be made in the 1980s, but since it was apparently a Danish favorite, it was shown during a prime time slot of 7pm every night during December 2016.

New Christmas Calendar Shows Every Year in Denmark

Watching the calendar show is definitely a Christmas tradition that we have kept up all the years we have lived here. I don’t see us stopping anytime soon. This old version was the right mixture of corny and fun. They also have some cool, newer shows that have better effects, scenery and makeup. We tend to watch whatever is on DR1 at 7pm or 7:30pm, so we aren’t picky!

Perhaps the most famous (by Danish standards) of all Christmas Calendar shows is the one where the elves (nisse) speak a mixture of Danish and English. I have yet to see this version, so that just leaves me something to look forward to for next year! 🙂

Learn more about my Danish and American Christmas comparisons from my YouTube Channel, My New Danish Life!

December is Danish Hygge Month

Though the winter days are very short in Denmark, they don’t have to be dull. In fact, December is one of my favorite months in Denmark for the “hygge”. Who needs to go outside and find excitement when you can stay at home and spend your days getting ready for Christmas? These wonderful Danish traditions are great for the entire family? These Danish ways of counting down to Christmas are perfect for this Danish/American family! If you try them, you would see why!

Glædelig jul! -Merry Christmas!

What is your favorite way to count down to Christmas?? Tell me about it in the comments!!

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