September 3 - September 16, 2019
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Danish Maid elated to fulfill childhood dream As she got the news, ‘all I wanted to do was jump up and down and celebrate,’ Gillian Nielsen says
See the full Danish Days schedule on Page 7
Danish Days adds events to mix of traditional favorites
By Raiza Giorgi
publisher@santaynezvalleystar.com
W
hen Gillian Nielsen got the news from the Solvang Danish Days committee that she had been selected as this year’s Danish Maid, she could hardly contain her excitement. “I was sitting there listening as they were describing all the duties and activities that I would be participating in, and all I wanted to do was jump up and down and celebrate,” said Gillian, 17. The Danish heritage festival returns for its 83rd anniversary on the weekend of Sept. 20-22. Since its modest beginnings in 1936, when a one-day celebration commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Solvang colony’s founding in 1911 was conceived, Danish Days has evolved into a weekend-long festival showcasing the village’s heritage. The annual event includes authentic food, music, dancing, parades, live entertainment and family activities. The 2019 Solvang Danish Days theme – “A Salute to Denmark’s Flag: Celebrating 800 Years of Dannebrog” – will showcase the nation’s 800-year-old flag, called “Dannebrog,” which is the world’s oldest national flag, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Gillian, a senior at Santa Ynez Valley Union High School, said that she has been waiting for this day since she was a little girl, as her family has been participating in Danish Days since before she was born. Gillian’s family’s path to Solvang began more than a century ago in 1898, when her great-great-great-grandfather, lumberman Andrew Johnson, left a small village in Sweden for the U.S. in search of a better life for his family. In 1953, Andrew’s great-granddaughter,
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Photo by Mike Mesikep Gillian Nielsen, the 2019 Danish Maid, says she has been waiting for this day since she was a little girl.
Marion Hanson, met Gillian’s grandfather, Alton Nielsen, in Solvang. Alton was the second son of Danish immigrant C.V. Nielsen, a carpenter who landed in Solvang in 1917,
and Anna Roth, whose family had moved to Solvang from Ferndale, Calif., in 1911. C.V. and Anna were married in Solvang in DANISH MAID CONTINUED TO PAGE 27
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s Solvang Danish Days nears its 83rd turn on Sept. 20-22, the festival continues to exemplify everything Danish by mixing “old-country charm and customs” with a more modern flavor through varied activities that blend current Danish practices with traditional ones. The weekend’s numerous offerings for all ages include two new events, an axe-throwing arena and a guided Solvang Food and Photo Tour. The activities also include three parades; fan-favorite food events surrounding aebleskiver, the iconic Danish pastry rounds; a Danish-style beer and wine garden serving the Danish import Carlsberg beer alongside local brews, wines and festival eats; a historical re-enactment in the form of a Viking encampment in Solvang Park; interactive history lessons at the Elverhoj Museum of History & Art; and an Old World artisan crafts marketplace. Southern California-based competitive eater and YouTube star Raina Huang (youtube.com/ RainaHuang) will again travel to the Santa Ynez Valley to compete in four eating challenges. During the 2018 festival, Huang broke all modern Solvang Danish Days records by consuming 36 aebleskiver — hands-free — in the five-minute competition. The previous record had been set in 2016, at 18.5 aebleskiver. Last year’s non-professional eaters made Danish Days history by raising the “amateur” record to 23. Danish Days boasts plentiful free enterDANISH DAYS CONTINUED TO PAGE 27
Time to fire up the oven & try some of our fabulous menus Go to: www.californiafreshmarket.com/recipes/weekly
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