Sankt Hans

Hide witches!

Here we celebrate tonight St. John (Sankt Hans), and we can say that the tradition is respected pretty seriously in Denmark. Each town, village or district of Copenhagen has its own Sankt Hans fire.
Example here in Hillerød last year: despite some rain during the day and especially the crazy wind, the festival was in full swing. Music, beer, sausages and of course the wood pile, installed on the castle lake. We even got to see some (small) fireworks.

For centuries, summer has been celebrated this way in Denmark and it is believed that this day of the year is really rich in "natural energy". I pass on the details of the early pagan rituals 8-)

For around a hundred years, they just burn a doll witch on the fire. Today the newspapers were full of stories of nowadays witches (a hobby like any other) who welcome the magical aspect of the evening while protesting that they should stop burn this kind of doll.