Skagen Festival is Denmark's oldest music festival having been held each summer since 1971. The annual event takes place on a number of stages in

Skagen Skagen () is Denmark's northernmost town, on the east coast of the Skagen Odde peninsula in the far north of Jutland, part of Frederikshavn Municipality in Nordjylland, north of Frederikshavn and northeast of Aalborg. The Port of Skage ...

in the far north of

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

over the first weekend of July.

History

The first festival in 1971 titled "Skagen Visefestival" (Skagen Song Festival) was held in Tuxen's Villa, the former residence of

Laurits Tuxen Laurits Regner Tuxen (9 December 1853 – 21 November 1927) was a Danish painter and sculptor specialising in figure painting. He was also associated with the Skagen Painters. He was the first head of Kunstnernes Frie Studieskoler, an art school ...

, one of the Skagen Painters. The participants came mainly from Norway and Denmark. It then moved to the Sports Center where there was more space before being held in the Skagen Kultur- og Fritidscenter. From 1996, the festival was held outdoors with tents pitched on the sand dunes or close to the harbour. It now takes place at various locations in the town and around the harbor. Initially the festival was held over the last weekend in June but since 1989, the first weekend in July has been the preferred date."Historie"
Skagen Festival. Retrieved 7 November 2013.

Festival

The festival's slogan is "It's good to see you!", the title of Allan Taylor's song which Alex Cambell sang at the festival back in the 1970s. Some 650 volunteers get together for a week or so to make the necessary arrangements. Now an international festival, it presents various types of

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

including

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

and blues. As well as 26 acts from Denmark, the 2014 program included four Australian acts, one from Belgium, four from England, two from Holland, seven from Ireland, one from Italy, two from Norway, two from Scotland, one from Spain, two from Sweden, one from Germany and one from the USA.

Changing venues

As a result of low ticket sales in 2013, Skagen Sports Center will no longer be included as a festival venue in 2014. However, Skagen Culture and Leisure Centre, Harbour scene and Culture Kappelborg, got an extra day of play - the latter as the small intimate venue.Foreword 2014
, Retrieved 7 July 2014

References

{{coord missing, Denmark Skagen Festivals established in 1971 Tourist attractions in the North Jutland Region Music festivals in Denmark Rock festivals in Denmark Folk festivals in Denmark Summer events in Denmark 1971 establishments in Denmark