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Sølund Music Festival
Denmark’s Most Festive Festival
Once a year, thousands of physically and mentally disabled people from all over Denmark congregate for the Sølund Music Festival in Skanderborg. The festival has justifiably been called “Denmark’s Most Festive Festival”.
During three festive days (always the second Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in June), music and festivities take place in the grounds of Sølund, an institution for the physically and mentally disabled. |
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There are five stages in all, and the music is performed by bands made up of residents of the institution as well as by a wide variety of Denmark’s best rock, pop and easy listening bands.
This unique festival is the biggest of its kind in Europe with an audience of more than 16,000, on top of which there are the performers and more than 2,000 voluntary helpers. It is also extremely popular, with the equivalent of 16,000 day tickets selling out in less than five hours after they have gone on sale. |
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On Tuesday 12 June 2007, Sølund Music Festival opens its doors for the twenty-second time.
It all started back in 1985 when a group of Sølund employees agreed that it was not on that there was no real option for the physically and mentally disabled to meet each other, establish lasting friendships and participate in such events together.
“In 1985, we therefore decided to start a festival and established the association Sølund Music Festival,” says Lasse Mortensen. He works as a nurse at Sølund, is chairman of the association, books the bands for the festivals, and has been involved from the very outset. |
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The first festival proved a success, and from then on the number of guests exploded year after year. The ceiling for how many guests the festival could accommodate was reached in 2001.
The festival is a charitable event and exempt from VAT, and the profit each year is paid into the Sølund Music Festival foundation. The foundation makes contributions to the physically and mentally disableds’ own projects throughout Denmark and then to institutions, associations and others who work voluntarily for a wider circle of people. To date, the festival has contributed almost 10 million Danish kroner to numerous worthwhile projects. |
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