Yearlong festivities make Odense a fairy tale destination

Blending medieval beginnings and fairytale fantasy with annual festivals and lively modern cultural events, Odense offers plenty of enticing reasons to visit throughout the year.

Coined the ‘fairy tale capital of Denmark’ and one of the oldest cities in the country, Odense offers everything from fragrant flower festivals to international blues performances.

Yearlong activities culminate in the wondrous Hans Christian Andersen Christmas Market where fairytales and Christmas celebrations literally take to the streets for the month leading up to Christmas.

Less than 2 hours flying time from the UK and with a multitude of things to see and do, Odense offer something for all tastes and ages making the city an ideal short break destination for one and all.

Highlights from the festival calendar include:

Folk Festival 7 – 10 May 2009
For the 20th time Odense Folk Festival presents a mix of unknown and well-known Danish and foreign folk artists who all have a love of folk music in common! Irish and Scottish artists are always part of the festival. odensefolkfestival.dk

Iron Age Market, 16 – 17 May 2009
The audience has the opportunity to go about 2000 years back in time and see the beautiful village populated again. About 100 market people will give an insight into that time’s everyday life.

Harbour Culture Festival 2009, 29 – 31 May 2009
Activities and entertainment within leisure and cultural life, sport, athletics and art.

The Hans Christian Andersen Parade 27 July – 8 August 2009
Excerpts from Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales performed by children. The parade performs 3 times daily in the “castle” by the Andersen Museum.

Opera in the Meadow, 16 August 2009
Exactly what is says, an open air concert in picturesque meadow surrounds featuring extracts from the upcoming opera and concert season in Odense Concert Hall. Presented by the Odense Symphonic Orchestra and professional soloists. Pick up some goodies in the vast array of Odense’s specialty shops and enjoy the picnic! odensesymfoni.dk

Odense International Film Festival, 17 August 2009
Odense Film Festival is Denmark's international film festival for short and documentary films. The festival shows an exciting programme of the world's best short films as well as the best of this year's Danish short and documentary films. Also special programmes for children and teenagers. There is free admission to all festival screenings. filmfestival.dk

Flowerfestival, 19 – 22 August 2009
Flowers, flowers everywhere! See, feel and smell the more than 180.000 flowers, plants and vegetables arranged in various fanciful tableaux and arrangements, according to a specific theme that changes every year. blomsterfestival.dk

Robot Festival, 10 – 12 September 2009
The Robot Festival is an annual event that attracts playful, instructive and interactive robots from all over the world. robotfestival.dk/english

Hans Christian Andersen Marathon, 20 September 2009
Big, international city marathon with more than 3000 participants. The arrangement includes a Marathon race, In-liner skaters race (takes place regardless of the weather), Wheelchair race - Handbike race, 1/10 marathon for children.
hcamarathon.dk

Odense Night of Culture, 9 October 2009
Hundreds of cultural offers all over the cities will be available to the public from 6pm to 12 pm. The programme includes all the major museums and exhibition halls, churches, libraries, schools, organisations, and a great number of venues which are normally not open to the public. But also public spaces are transformed into stages for musical performance, poetry reading, art exhibitions and more. Access is obtained with a Night of Culture badge which gives free admission to the events. odense.dk

The Music Harvest, 28 October – 1 November & 3 – 7 November 2009
Since the first Music Harvest in 1985, the festival has presented contemporary music from the USA, the former USSR, Great Britain, Germany, Hungary, Finland, Poland, Lithuania the Baltic countries and Denmark. musikhost.dk/english/index.html

International Days of Blues, 6 – 8 November 2009
Odense International Days of Blues features local and international artists in one of Odense's small charming music stages called Magasinet. bluesdage.dk

H.C.Andersen Christmas Market, Two first weekends of December
The old part of Odense where Hans Christian Andersen's childhood home lies, forms the setting of a period christmas market with all the fun of the fair, illuminations, merry-go-round, and stalls selling goodies and presents. The Hans Christian Andersen Parade performs daily with the winter show hcajulemarkedet.dk

Getting there…
Although there are no direct flights to Odense, the city is only 90 minutes from Billund Airport where Ryan Air has direct daily flights from London Stansted.

Alternatively, with Denmark’s efficient road and rail system, it is just over an hour and 15 minutes by rail from Copenhagen. Odense also offers a good range of 3 and 4 star hotels with costs from approximately £90- £160 per night for a double room on a bed and breakfast basis.

For more information on Odense go to visitodense.com.

For additional information on Funen, see visitfyn.com. For more details on Denmark, go to visitdenmark.com.