Fastelavn is a popular Danish holiday that involves dressing up in colorful costumes, breaking barrels full of treats, and eating special pastries. Learn all about how children in Danish daycares celebrate this fun holiday every year.
Fastelavn takes place in February or early March and is the Scandinavian version of Carnival. Although the official day is always on a Sunday, daycares choose another day during the week (often Friday or Monday) to celebrate with the children. Fastelavn is a big part of Danish culture, and daycares start talking about the holiday a few weeks in advance.
Decorations
One of the fun arts and crafts projects children work on for Fastelavn is the fastelavns-ris. Twigs or small branches are collected and decorated with colorful feathers and pompoms, as well as hand-made paper cut-outs and festive masks. Children may also help paint the wooden barrel that will be filled with candy or other treats in preparation for the big event. More on this later!
An oversized fastelavnsris with paper decorations
Helping decorate the barrel (fastelavnstønde)
Fastelavn song
Children love learning the Fastelavn song, which is traditionally sung while going around from house to house asking for sweets or coins. Those who go out and rasle will knock on neighborhood doors and sing for anyone who opens the door, threatening to make trouble if they do not get a pastry. It is very similar to the Halloween “trick-or-treat” tradition, and although there are still some children who rasler for Fastelavn, many Danes now save the tradition for Halloween.
If going out to rasle is still popular in your area, it is something children do with friends or family, usually on Fastelavn (Sunday) or the day after. You can hear Sigurd Barret (a popular pianist, composer, and author) sing his version of the song here.
Fastelavn er mit navn,
Boller vil jeg have,
Hvis jeg ingen boller få,
Så laver jeg ballade.
Boller op, boller ned,
Boller i min mave,
Hvis jeg ingen boller får,
Så laver jeg ballade.
(English)
Fastelavn is my name
I would like some buns
If I don’t get some buns
Then I will make trouble
Buns up, buns down
Buns in my tummy
If I don’t get some buns
Then I will make trouble
Costumes
When the big day arrives, the kids dress up in fun costumes, and daycares around Denmark are flooded with super heroes, princesses, pirates, animals, and cartoon characters. Home-made costumes are completely acceptable, but toy stores (BR, Lirum Larum Leg) large supermarkets (Føtex, Bilka), and some kids clothing stores (Magasin, H&M) will usually start selling costumes in January. Gently used costumes can also be found at local thrift stores or on popular apps like Reshopper or DBA. There is no general rule for what type of costume is allowed, although most of the extra scary costumes are saved for Halloween. Masks are usually also discouraged, as they can frighten some children.
Something to consider when choosing a costume is that some daycares, especially kindergartens, may celebrate outdoors for part of the day. If your child will be spending the day outside, they will probably need to wear a snow suit or winter jacket. Some children choose to take their costume off or wear it under their snow suit, while others wear oversized costumes that are large enough to fit over thick outerwear. Using facepaint or accessories like headbands, wigs, crowns, or props can be a good way to let children remain “dressed up”, even when their costume is covered.
Dressing up for Fastelavn is a popular tradition, but it should be noted that it is completely optional. In some daycares, especially in nurseries, there may only be a few children who dress up. Some children simply do not want to dress up, and this is also fine.
Image by Sonderborg.dk via Flickr
Cat in the barrel
One of the big highlights of the day is when the kids line up to hit the cat out of the barrel (slår katten af tønden). A wooden barrel filled with candy or other goodies is hung with a rope and children line up to take turns hitting it with a stick. The person who knocks the bottom out of the barrel wins the title of “cat queen” (kattedronning). The kids continue to take turns hitting the barrel until it is completely knocked down, and the person who knocks the last piece to the ground is crowned “cat king” (kattekonge).
This fun tradition was originally not so fun for cats. Until the late 1800s, a real cat was placed into the barrel. Once the barrel broke, the cat jumped out and ran away, symbolizing the banishment of evil spirits. Over time, real cats were replaced with cloth replicas. Although Fastelavn barrels are now only filled with sweet treats, you may still spot a picture of a black cat on the barrel.
Image by Sonderborg.dk via Flickr
Fastelavn pastries
A holiday that has its very own song, decorations, and traditions also needs its own pastry, and Fastelavn definitely lives up to this expectation. Children love enjoying these tasty treats during the days festivities. Most bakeries in Denmark begin selling Fastelavns-boller in mid-January, so there are also plenty of opportunities to try out these tasty treats before the big day.
The traditional, old-fashioned fastelavns-bolle looks like a regular bun with a bit of icing on top, while the newer variations are made with pastry dough, and may be flat open pastries (like a Danish) or pastry buns cut in half (like a sandwich). What they all have in common is that they are filled with cream, remonce, marmelade, or other yummy pastry fillings.
Variations in traditions
Although virtually all daycares in Denmark celebrate Fastelavn, there can be some variations in the festivities from daycare to daycare. In some daycares, parents are invited to the celebration, while in others, the celebration is mainly for the children. Some daycares may provide party food like hotdogs and juice, while others will have lunch as usual. Nurseries sometimes prefer that children do not wear costumes for the whole day, but bring them along to wear during the party. Daycares with sugar-free policies may serve regular buns or other alternatives instead of the traditional Fastelavns-boller. The wooden barrel with treats may be replaced with a cardboard or paper version for the youngest children.
Variations are a great way to make sure kids of various ages and with various needs get to enjoy the festivities and learn about this fun holiday. If you have any questions or concerns when it comes to the holiday celebrations, is a good idea to talk to your child’s teacher (pædagog) or another parent who is familiar with the daycare traditions.
