Tag Archives: ringridning

Ringridning – the Highlights

July is here and, with that, the annual tilting at the rings festival in Sonderborg. The first day I ever visited Sonderborg, long before I had any plans to move here, we had stumbled across this festival. It was a great event and one which I was looking forward to repeat once we moved here.

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Tilting at the Rings, or Ringridning, is an extended-weekend celebration of tilting at the rings and all that goes with it. There is loads going on, and you probably can’t be everywhere all the time. So what should you make sure you don’s miss? These are my personal highlights:

  • Tilting competition at the ringridning grounds: Every day. Finals and crowning on Sunday (start around 16:45)
  • Concert at the town hall square. Highly entertaining! Be there early for a good spot. Saturday at 11:00.
  • Visit Ringridning Museum. A real gem.
  • Concert and start of the cavalcade from Sonderborg castle: Friday and Sunday morning at 10:50
  • Historic tilting at the rings, by Sonderborg Castle: Saturday at 13:00. Also every Tuesday throughout the summer.

There are also a number of events that have caught my eye that I haven’t as yet seen:

  • Combined tour of the city and tilting grounds. Friday and Sunday at 12:00
  • Fireworks competition: Friday at 23:00
  • Light tattoo and fireworks. Monday from 21:00.

Other than that, just enjoy the atmosphere in town and at the ringridning grounds. Enjoy!

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ringridning

Historic Tilting at the Rings

As we have written previously, tilting-at-the-ring (better known in Danish as Ringridning) is a popular sport in the south of Denmark. Nowadays, riders gallop towards a ring suspended on a rope and try to catch the ring on a lance they carry. However, this sport has a long tradition, and is to be expected, changes have occurred over the years.

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During the summer, there are displays of historic tilting events at a track right by Sonderborg castle. During the weekly occurrence, one of the tilting families of the region (participation in this sport seems to be a family tradition) takes part in a re-enactment of such tournaments from days gone by on a small scale.

When I went to check it out I had expected to see a similar display to that seen at the modern tournaments, just in costume. However, I was surprised to finally make sense of statues of cocks standing in the middle of the course! In fact, rather than only grabbing rings from suspended ropes, the riders also attempt to grab rings that are suspended from the cocks’ mouths. Seeing the riders in action it was quite clear that this is no longer a practised tradition…the riders had infinitely more problems grabbing these rings than the more ‘normal’ ones!

Unfortunately these displays only occur in Danish school holidays (which end in the beginning of August in Denmark), so apologies for writing about it this late in the season. However, if you are visiting the area, now you have an excuse to come again next year!

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This is How we Party

Parties and celebrations are a mainstay of all cultures. They are what bring friends and families together, villages and nations. They are what we look forward to when we want to have fun. However, the way we have fun is where the differences start! We have already written about Danish festivities with family and friends. But what about village festivities?

Rotunda of Mosta

I come from Malta, where village feasts are a big deal. The feasts there are connected to the feast of the local saint (or saints), with each village typically celebrating the feast of two saints for a week each year. During the feast week there are band marches, decorated streets and churches (remember that these are religious feasts first and foremost) and fireworks – LOTS of fireworks, both aerial and ground fireworks. There is often ongoing rivalry between different feasts in the same village or nearby towns, which means that the festivities often get bigger every year as they try and outdo each other.

Coming from this background I consider such feasts and festivals to be a time when the people from a town or village really get together to organise the best party they can. Every day during the feast week people are on the streets of the village walking and talking to each other, visiting each other and just enjoying the atmosphere. The aim is to see people and be seen. It is like a family party, just on a bigger scale!

In Sonderborg, however, the village celebrations seem to be organised from a slightly different perspective. Sonderborg has two main village celebrations each year, none of which are connected to any religious event. First there is the Byfest, or town festival, during the Ascension weekend. The Ringridning festival, or Tilting-at-the-Rings festival, is then at the beginning of July.

fun ride celebration

Unlike in Malta, these festivities do not seem to be centred around people meeting and talking to each other as the primary aim. The byfest is organised by sport-related societies in order to raise money. On visiting the byfest I was very surprised to see funfair rides and stalls as the main focus point of the feast. It seemed that the point of the celebration was to get people to do stuff (and, of course, pay for stuff).

The Ringridning celebration is slightly different. This appears to be the main village festivity, although it is first and foremost a tilting at the rings competition that has developed into a colourful and joyful celebration that has spilled over to people in the area. Again there are funfair rides on the grounds, though this is not the main focus.

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So what are my feelings?

I, of course, have grown up with the Maltese style of village celebrations, so that is what I expect and think of first and foremost when I think of village celebrations. I must admit I left the byfest feeling sad, missing the camaraderie of Maltese feasts, where the entertainment (fireworks, decorations, band marches) are all occurring on the streets, free for everyone to enjoy. I missed feeling that as a inhabitant of Sonderborg this is MY feast as well, rather than a spectator enjoying a show, or someone who is an easy target for being made to spend money on the rides.

Of course, not everyone agrees with me. Just as I am a foreigner living in Denmark, there are foreigners living in Malta. And one of them has written a blog post about village feasts in Malta. Do go over and read what her opinion is! Let’s just say that her and I don’t necessarily see eye-to-eye on this topic ;).

Lighted church photo by Michael Camilleri

Funfair photo by Linda Cronin.

Visit to the Tilting at the Ring Museum (Ringridermuseum)

After watching the Tilting-at-the-Rings event over the weekend you undoubtedly have a number of questions you are curious about. A couple of mine were:

  • Why do the riders wear a bow on their head?
  • Does the red and white flag attached to their lance signify anything?
  • Why are the rings coloured?

If so, you could do much worse than taking a trip to the Ringrider museum.

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The museum is set up in the old gable house on Church street. This is the second oldest house in Sonderborg, dating to 1643. After falling into disrepair, it was passed on to the local historical archive in 1987, and to the tilting festival of Sonderborg in 2006, when they turned it into Denmark’s first and only Tilting at the Ring Museum.

On entering the museum you find yourself in a charming little house. I was immediately greeted by the person manning the museum on the day, who charmingly answered all my questions in ‘langsamt og tydlig’ Danish (slow and clear): The bow and the flags are simply decorations; the rings are coloured depending on their size, making it easier for the scorers to know the ring size that has been completed. There was also a wall of all the festival posters used since the tournament started in 1888, which I thought was very interesting.

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If you are around during the museum’s opening times (Tuesday and Friday 10:00-16:00 during June, July and August, and every day during the festival weekend; free entry) I would strongly urge you to drop in. The attendant was extremely charming and happy to answer any questions I threw at him in broken Danish, making the visit that much more than a simple museum visit. Worth a visit!