It’s finally Fastelavn!
Brooklyn’s favorite Danish holiday is back! Next weekend, Scandinavian Brooklynites will dress up, dance, sing, and indulge in sweet treats at the annual Fastelavn festival — the Danish Mardi Gras that comes before the Lenten season of fasting — at the Danish Athletic Club in Bay Ridge. The Viking-style carnival celebration, hosted by the Scandinavian East Coast Museum on Feb. 11, is — as everyone knows — a mash-up of familiar holiday traditions that anyone can enjoy, said an organizer.
“It’s kind of like Mardi Gras and Halloween fused together,” said Victoria Hofmo. “People dress up in fun costumes, kids get treats, and you enjoy traditional foods. It’s an interesting day.”
In Europe, the Fastelavn festivals are a big draw for tourists and towns in Denmark flood with thousands of costume-clad revelers for parades and cultural festivities. Several other Nordic countries, including Sweden, Norway, and Iceland, also celebrate Fastelavn in order to welcome spring and indulge in fun and games before fasting during Lent. Kids also visit their neighbors and sing a song threatening “trouble” unless the carolers receive boller buns — sweet creme-filled rolls.
One Danish tradition, called slå katten af tønden — which literally translates to “hit the cat out of the barrel” — historically involved sealing a black cat inside a wooden cask, and smacking the barrel with a stick until the kitty was free. But for the Brooklyn celebration, organizers have chosen an animal-cruelty free alternative, said Hofmo.
“We opted for a piñata,” she said. “No one is going to be doing that to a cat. Also, finding a wooden barrel is actually really hard.”
In Brooklyn, the Scandinavian population may not be as large as it once was, but the Danish Athletic Club will welcome people of all backgrounds to its combination of new and traditional activities. The celebration will feature a game similar to musical chairs that swaps the seats for cut outs of black cats, sack races, and the spring tradition of decorating branches with ribbons and feathers, said Hofmo.
“We try to mix it up so it’s not the same thing every year,” she said. “It’s pretty fun and we really try and make it so anyone — young or old — can get involved.”
Fastelvan at the Danish Athletic Club [741 65th St. between Seventh and Eighth avenues in Bay Ridge, (718) 748–5950]. Feb. 11, 2–6 pm. $38 (Children 12 and younger free).
