What is Fastelavn?
Fastelavn means “Carnival,” and it is a popular holiday in the Nordic countries. Each country has its own unique traditions. Since we are most familiar with Denmark’s, we will largely discuss these in today’s blog post. We are writing about Fastelavn now as we celebrate it in February each year. This year, it falls on the 19th. We wanted to tell you about it so you can participate in some of the traditions (especially the baked goods)! In short, this is a holiday that somewhat resembles Halloween, as kids dress up in costumes. It is steeped in religious history, which I will briefly get into next. But generally, Danes now view it as a fun holiday for kids, instead of a religious holiday. We loved this when we were kids in Denmark, and it is definitely something unique to the Nordic countries. We hope you enjoy learning a little bit about it in today’s post!
The History of Fastelavn
Fastelavn, or Shrovetide, is a holiday that is closely tied to the Christian religious observance of Lent. Lent takes place from mid-February (usually) and continues for 40 days, ending with the celebration of Easter in April. People who observe this tradition tend to fast or give something up for Lent. Apparently, this is to commemorate when Jesus fasted for 40 days in the desert. The period leading up to Lent is thus a time of indulgence before fasting. This is called Shrovetide, or Fastelavn.
Personally, we are not religious, along with much of Denmark. Although the history of the holiday is interesting to learn, many people do not see Fastelavn as a religious holiday. Some do still attend church services, but most just enjoy the fun activities that are a part of Fastelavn. Furthermore, Denmark is now a Protestant nation, so Fastelavn has taken on many of its own unique traditions. These differ from Catholic and Orthodox Shrovetide celebrations.
Fastelavn Traditions
So, let’s get into some of the fun traditions! In particular, we want to focus on the most popular game we play during Fastelavn in Denmark. In Danish, we call the game “to hit the cat out of the barrel.” Kids usually play this in school or at parties with friends. They take turns hitting a barrel full of candy with a bat – you can think of it as a kind of piñata! A bit of a strange name for a game, but apparently it is because people used to play it with a real cat in the barrel (sounds horrific). Typically, the kid who hits out the bottom of the barrel and releases the candy is crowned the “kattedronning,” or “cat queen.” The kid who then knocks down the last piece of the barrel is crowned the “kattekonge,” or “cat king.” The rules on crowning these two titles vary from place to place, but it’s such a fun and exciting tradition that we loved as kids!
Fastelavnsboller
Another great Fastelavn tradition is eating lots and lots of fastelavnsboller, or “carnival buns.” This is directly tied to the idea of indulging in lots of delicious things before Lent begins. You can find an insane variety of fastelavnsboller in Denmark alone. They range from simple pastry cream-filled buns to buns cut in half and topped with almond paste and whipped cream, to traditional buns that have raisins and orange peel in them. We love traditional Danish fastelavnsboller, which are filling with vanilla pastry cream and topped with chocolate icing. We have a recipe linked here if you want to have a go at making them this year! Alternatively, you may be familiar with Swedish semlor buns, which are also known as fastelavnsboller in some places. We also have a recipe for these (here!) and while we do love our classic Danish ones a bit more, they are also delicious.
Thanks for reading!
We hope you learned a little bit more about Fastelavn today! While this short post by no means covers the entirety of Fastelavn traditions in Denmark or the Nordic countries, it can hopefully serve as an introduction. If there is one thing you take away from this post, though, it should be to bake some fastelavnsboller! Thanks, as always, for reading, and happy Fastelavn!
