Smukfest (also known as the Skanderborg Festival) is an annual

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...

, held during the second weekend of August in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. Its location, in a

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

forest in the vicinity of

Skanderborg Skanderborg is a town in Skanderborg municipality, Denmark. It is situated on the north and north eastern brinks of Skanderborg Lake and there are several smaller ponds and bodies of water within the city itself, like Lillesø, Sortesø, Døj S� ...

, has given rise to the

slogan A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan, political slogan, political, Advertising slogan, commercial, religious, and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the publi ...

"Denmarks' Most Beautiful Festival" (Danish: ''Danmarks Smukkeste Festival''). The festival covers many styles of music, such as

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

, pop,

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

, heavy metal, hip-hop and

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

. The festival focuses mainly on Danish music, but with some big names from other countries e.g.

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

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Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

, Tom Jones,

Fat Boy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist f ...

Blood Hound Gang The Bloodhound Gang was an American rap rock band from Collegeville, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1988 by rappers Jimmy Pop and Daddy Long Legs (now in Wolfpac) as a hip-hop group, before branching out into other genres as their career pr ...

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and many more. The first festival was held in 1980, and was a one-day event with 7 bands and about 600 spectators. The festival has a mascot called "Waltidur Festismuk Kærligkys Ølimund Rockilund Trold" (Waltidur Party-beauty Loving-kiss Beer-in-mouth Rock-in-grove Troll), born in 1579, thus the festival was born on Waltidurs 400th birthday. In 2009, Skanderborg Festival was held for the 30th time and is today the second largest festival in Denmark, after the

Roskilde Festival The Roskilde Festival is a Danish music festival held annually south of Roskilde. It is one of the largest music festivals in Europe and the largest in the Nordic countries. It was created in 1971 by two high school students and a promoter. In 1 ...

. The festival gathered more than 50,000 people for the concerts, including 8,500 workers, most of them volunteers and has reached the current site's maximum capacity.

Stages

The festival has 4 stages (2016): # Bøgescenerne / The Main Stages # P3-teltet ( Danish National Radio has a station called P3) # Stjerne-scenen (Star Stage) # Sherwood-scenen (Sherwood Stage) The festival main stage consist of two stages and is called "Bøgescenerne" (Beech stages). Smukfest, Bøgescenen, 20160804

Music performances

Image:Gnags, Smukfest, 2016.jpg, Gnags, 2016 Image:Walter Trout and sons, Smukfest 2016.jpg, Walter Trout and sons, 2016 Image:Peter Sommer Smukfest 2013.jpg,

Peter Sommer Peter Sommer Christensen (born 28 August 1974 in Skanderborg) is a Danish singer and songwriter. His lyrics are often characterized by interesting puns and word plays. Besides his solo career, he was in the duo Superjeg with Carsten Valentin L ...

, 2013 Image:Dúné 20130810 (Smukfest).jpeg, Dúné, 2013 Image:Savage Rose - Smukfest 2011.jpg,

Savage Rose The Savage Rose is a Danish psychedelic rock group, formed in 1967. Career The band was founded in 1967 by Thomas Koppel, Anders Koppel, Alex Riel, Jens Rugsted, Flemming Ostermann, and singer Annisette Koppel. Ilse Marie Koppel was also pa ...

, 2011

External links

References

{{Coord, 56.026, 9.920, type:event_region:DK, display=title Rock festivals in Denmark Music festivals in Denmark Skanderborg Municipality 1980 establishments in Denmark Tourist attractions in the Central Denmark Region Music festivals established in 1980 Pop music festivals Folk festivals in Denmark Summer events in Denmark