Category Archives: Events

Twitter Meetup Sønderborg #6400Tweetup

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Back in mid-december a discussion about cake got @dsh3 to posted a question on Twitter:

A “Friday Bar” for people on Twitter? Twitter is still a bit of a niche media in Denmark and although there is a small amount of local tweeps, not that many of them have actually met. So this would be an idea to see people face to face that you might just know as a username.

That was the start of it. Very quickly @kasper_roed @Casper_O, @wphilipsen and @Nickifynbo chimed in, I created a Doodle calendar and soon we had a group gathered with @HelleBach, @LeneNJ, @dennisoersted and @Captstulle.

What is a tweetup?

“A tweetup is an event where people who Twitter come together to meet in person. Normally we connect with our friends online after we have met them. At a tweetup you meet the people you might only otherwise know virtually. Like finally putting a name to a face, a tweetup is a great opportunity to really connect with the people in your network and share just a little more than 140 characters at a time.” — Cary Snowden

When we were living in London I used to attend the local #WhampGather and it was always a lot of fun, meeting a lot of good people there.

Price draw at #Whampgather at The Garden

There are tweetups across Denmark with #twedagsbar in Copenhagen, #twaalbar in Aalborg, #twodensebar in Odense, #twaarhusbar in Aarhus and now we are trying to introduce #6400tweetup for Sønderborg/Als/Southeast Jutland.

When and where?

The first edition of #6400TweetUp will be at Ib Rehne Cairo, Sønderborg on Thursday the 17th at 6.30pm (we plan to order food at 7pm so be there by then if you want to eat).

If you want to come please Sign up here.

Details in Danish

Rådhustorvet 4
6400 Sonderborg
chamber music at Alsion

Last chance of free chamber music concert

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This Sunday is the last in this season series of ProMusica concerts at Alsion with members of the Symphony Orchestra of South Denmark.

The concert series is ending on an ambitious note with colourful works by Bach, Mozart, Berio, Christer Danielsson, Chopin, Offenbach, Massenet and Jacob Gade. Here are some samples of what you can hear.

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Partita for solo flute, BWV 1013 and Luciano Berio’s Sequenza for solo flute will be played by Jorunn Solløs, who has previously written a guest post here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGt4P4ltO3U

A solo tuba and four French horns will play a tune by the Swedish Christer Danielsson. It sounds quite a lot like film music.

The last tune will be Tango Jalousi by Jacob Gade, which I’m pretty sure you have heard before.

The concert is this Sunday November 11th at 3pm at the Alsion Concert Hall. Entrance is free and the Cafe at Alsion is open before and during breaks for refreshments.

Define Festival this weekend

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Music versus photography

It’s time again for the annual, cross-border, electronic Define Festival and this year they have a really interesting lineup. From partyman Bjørn Svin to a full on symphony orchestra there should be some great music and beats in store for people. And it’s cheap – about 50DKK per session.

2 days, 3 locations, lots of music
The interesting thing about this festival is that it is not confined to one location but takes place in a number of locations. You can go to one location, or you can travel around to the venues. The other years there was a cheap bus taking people from Sonderborg to Flensburg but I can’t find it mentioned this year.

Underground @ 8pm Friday Kuhlhaus, Flensburg
Young talents from the Tonespace education in at the music conservatory in Esbjerg show their latest creations: Alexander Holm, Thomas Vedel, David Nordentoft og Louis Lennert.

Electronic Movement @ 11pm Friday Kuhlhaus, Flensburg
Electronic dance music with Rainer Weichhold , Johann Nielson and Hit Asmussen.

Symphony Orchestra @ 4pm Saturday Alsion, Sonderborg

First Run Time Error @ Alsion a site-specific performance for joystick-controlled video. Second an ouvertures for the classical Chinese instrument ghuzeng, samples and orchestra. Both creations by Simon Steen-Andersen, a Danish composer who is getting a lot of international attention lately.

Underground @ 5.30pm Saturday Alsion, Sonderborg
Young talents from the Tonespace education in at the music conservatory in Esbjerg show their latest creations: Alexander Holm, Thomas Vedel, David Nordentoft og Louis Lennert.

Fuzzy & Bjørn Svin @ 8.30pm Saturday Alsion, Sonderborg
Fuzzy (Jens Vilhelm Pedersen) has a wide range from jazz to film music to experimental electronic music. He has music for cartoons and avant garde exhibits.
Bjørn Svin (Bjørn Christiansen) is a self taught composer and producer who has been active on the electronic stage for many years.

Wet and Dirty @ 10pm Saturday Zanzibar, Sonderborg
Electronic dance music with Rainer Weichhold , Wet and Dirty DJ team and Hit Asmussen.

Watch Sonderjyske’s Ice-Hockey team

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Sonderjysk Elitesport, better known as SonderjyskE is the main Danish sport club based in Southern Jutland. It was created in 2004, when all the elite sport teams in the region were merged into one club in order to improve upon sponsors, resources and attention.

The club consists of 2 football teams, 2 handball teams and an ice-hockey team. Last season we had been along to support one of the football and handball teams, and now it was ice-hockey’s turn.

I will start on a bit of a confession. I have been ice-skating 3 times in my life, so anything to do with ice is pretty much out of my sphere of consciousness. In fact, before this game I had never seen an ice-hockey game, except maybe a short bit on tv, or during a film.

The Game

As the name implies, ice hockey is pretty much hockey on ice (and no – I have no clue about regular hockey either!). It is played on an ice-rink, with 6 players on ice skates, including one goalie guarding a small goal post. The game is played with a hard rubber disc, known as a puck, that each team tries to get into the other team’s goal post with the use of a long stick. Each game is composed of 3 sections of 20 minutes each (though with time stoppage the time easily doubles). And that’s about it.

Camera Roll-867

The Experience

Ice-hockey is big in Vojens, where the SonderjyskE team is based. Considering that the team has been doing marvellously well the last few years, coming top of the league in 2006, 2010 and 2011, this is understandable. This was also clear on the day; it was a Tuesday evening, with a Denmark-Italy football game on at the same time, so anyone watching was definitely an ice-hockey fan before all else, but still the stadium was more than 50% full.

Camera Roll-869

As with all SonderjyskE games we have been to, there was a SonderjyskE band (mainly drums) enthusing the game along, and being around such hardcore fans I felt obliged to clap along (if only to save being attacked by one of them maybe?). The band playing was interspersed with singing, and also some music blasted over speakers when something besides normal play was happening.

Overall, there were 2 things that stuck in my mind regarding this first handball experience:

  1. At the start of the game, the teams go onto the rink one by one. The SonderjyskE (home) team did this to a high energy tune to get the blood running. The opposing team? Unfortunately they only got some tinny slapstick music that could only make you laugh. I though it was a bit mean, but hey, I get the point!
  2. Sponsors. There is one for everything! If someone scores, his name is associated with a sponsor, a penalty? There is a sponsor for that. There is even a sponsor for the different kind of faults!! (slashing, penalty etc). The sponsorship people must be doing a good job as I couldn’t pinpoint one further aspect that could have been sponsored.

I wonder though: is this normal at ice-hockey games, or just limited to Denmark, or maybe just this team?

Oh! And one more question: The SonderjyskE team had goalies, forwards, defence and boblere listed on their team member list. Aalborg, the opposing team, didn’t have any boblere. But what are boblere? Any clues anyone?

ringridning

Historic Tilting at the Rings

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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.

ringridning

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!

Sonderborg Culture Night Programme 2012

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This is one of the biggest events in Sonderborg and will draw loads of people out into the streets. It is the 15th time there is a Sports and Culture Night in Sonderborg. It has gotten progressively bigger over the years and this year more than 100 sports clubs and other associations are taking part in one way or another.

The activities during the night take place across the centre of Sonderborg, where the different organisations have been allocated a spot and time slot for their presentation. A few organisations are doing the events in their own facilities so you have to go to their building (club house, church etc.).

Highlights are:

  • Announcement of European Capital of Culture 2017 at 4pm at Town Hall Square
  • Parade from three places starting at 5pm ending at Town Hall Square at 5.30pm
  • Fireworks over the water at 10.35pm
  • Sending 1700 runners off at 10.55pm

Here are most of the locations:

The square in front of the S2017 shop

The Knight Ballroom

21.00—22.30 Come-and-go concert with song, guitar and sax

16.00—21.00 Exhibit of an artist

19.00—22.00 Open for visits. Tour of the permanent collection at 20.00

17.00-22.00 Open House

17.00-21.00 Open House

17.00-21.00 Open House

17.00-22.00 Enjoy paintings and live jazz

17.00-21.00 Open House

Søndre Landevej 28
6400 Sonderborg, Denmark

17.00-21.00 Music and evning song

The full Danish programme is found as PDF here. The text, times and locations mentioned below are our translations/interpretations from the Danish programme.

Søndertorv

17.00-17.25 Gymnastics Show by Midtals Idrætsforening
17.25-17.50 Gymnastics Show by Idræts SFO Sønderskov Skolen
17.50-18.00 Aerobic Show by Sønderborg Aerobic Klub
18.00-18.20 Jumping Gymnastics by Vidar Gymnastik og Kampsport
18.20-18.35 Rhönrad (Rolling wheel) by TS Sønderborg
18.35-18.55 Karate show by Ashihara Karate
18.55-19.05 Winner is announced from the ”ZeroCup” boat race
19.05-19.25 Get in Line Linedance
19.25-19.35 Aerobic Show by Sønderborg Aerobic Klub
19.35-20.05 Gymnastics Show by DGI Sønderborg Egnen
20.05-20.25 Taekwondo Show by Taekwondo Chung Un
20.25-20.35 Aerobic Show by Sønderborg Aerobic Klub
20.35-20.50 Rhönrad (Rolling wheel) by TS Sønderborg
20.50-21.10 Line Dance Show by Sønderborg Line Dancers
21.10-21.30 Contradance Show by Sønderborg Contradance
21.30-22.00 Music and Song by Randi & Bjarne
22.00-22.20 Dance School Youths Show – Randis danseskole
ca. 22.25 The runners assemble on Søndertorv
After the race start: Tattoo by Sønderborg Garden

Fireworks over the Sound

22.35 big fireworks show over the water. Launched from Sundgade on the Dybbøl side so you will probably get the best view from the castle.

Sønderborg Castle – The Knight Ballroom

17.00-17.30 Classic music by skilled students at MGK
17.30-18.15 Matrix Quartet playing performing Schubert, Shostakovitch and Dvorak
18.15-18.45 The Choir of North Als (Nordalskoret)
18.45-19.30 South Danish girls and boys choir (Sønderjysk pige– og drengekor)
19.30-20.00 Choir by Ældresagen
20.00-20.15 Violin and cello duo performing Bach and R. Gliere
20.15-21.00 Quartet performing Haydn, Carl Nielsen, Edvard Grieg and more
21.00-22.00 Swinging jazz by Opus 2.

Town Hall Square/Rådhustorvet

14.30-15.00 Michael Vogensen playing
15.00-16.00 Music School pupils
16.00-17.00 Direct connection to the mayor for results from the jury verdict and Jeppe Rapp entertaining
17.15-17.30 Nordals Choir
17.00-17.30 Parade with Gråsten Garden and Sønderborg Garden
17.30-18.00 Fashion Show part 1
18.00-19.30 Ray Darwin – Jamaican reggea music
19.30-19.45 Award ceremony from integration council
19.45-20.30 Fashion Show part 2
21.00-22.15 Rock concert with Hardinger, Thorup and B-Joe
22.45-00.00 Pink Floyd Lovers

Rønhave Plads

17.00-?? Jazz Festival/Concerts

Steps in front of castle

Sønderborg Yacht Club
17.00-22.00: Demonstrating boats

Sebbe Als
17.00-22.00: The oldest viking ship replica sailing in Denmark is based in Augustenborg. They would love to have more members to join on their sailing trips.

Swimming Club Sønderborg
19.00-20.30: Playing water polo in the harbour.

”ZeroCup”
15.00-18.00: Some sort of sail boat competition between the marina and harbour of Sonderborg.

Other places in town

“Ice Rink”
15.00—20.30 Street handball competition

Night Race
22.35-23.30 6km run with 1700 participants. Starting in front of castle.

Sct. Marie Church
21.00—22.30 Come-and-go concert with song, guitar and sax

Art School/Sønderjyllands Kunstskole
16.00—21.00 Exhibit of an artist

German library/Deutsches Museum Nordschleswig
19.00—22.00 Open for visits. Tour of the permanent collection at 20.00

Tilting at the ring museum/Ringridermuseet
17.00-22.00 Open House

VUC Sønderjylland
17.00-21.00 Open House

Free Masons/Den Danske Frimurerorden
17.00-21.00 Open House

The Little Gallery/Det lille Galleri
17.00-22.00 Enjoy paintings and live jazz

Odd Fellow Logen
17.00-21.00 Open House

Radiomuseum/Sønderjyllands Radiomuseum

Lutheran missionary/Bethania
17.00-21.00 Music and evning song

And more…

You can also go visit the stalls of all these organisations:

Bridgeklubben ”Enigheden”
Dybbøl Efterskole
VUC Sønderjylland
Sønderborg Bibliotek
Sønderborg Skyttekreds
Metal Sønderborg
Catena Logen
Sdbg. Hjerneskadeforening
Dansk Handicap Forbund
Brand og Redning Sønderborg & Pionertjenesten
Sundhedscentrets Rehabiliteringsteam
Dansk Røde Kors
Dansk Vandrelaug
Hjernesagen Aabenraa-Sønderborg
Business College Syd
Sønderborg Modelflyveklub
Sønderborg Sportsdykker Klub
Sønderborg Linedancere
Børns Voksenvenner
Eckersberg Børneuniversitet
Sønderborg Bloddonorkorps
Venstre i Sønderborg kommune
Venstres Ungdom
Kirkens Korshær
Sdbg. Sports og Helsecenter
Sdbg Teakwondoklub
Scleroseforeningen
Amnestys Lokalforening for Sønderborg og Sundeved
Konservative vælgerforening
Mølleparkens Plecenter
Taekwondo Klubben ”Chung Un”
Kræftens Bekæmpelse
Dansk Folkeparti
Kegnæs Friskole
Sygeplejerskolen
Sønderborg International School
Ligeværd Sønderborg
Alsalsa Dans
Alssund Golfklub
Apoaf: Apopleksi/Afasiramte
De Tyske Foreninger
FOA Sønderborg
Folk og Forsvar
Gigtforeningen Sønderborg
Socialistisk Folkeparti
Ung til Ung i Sønderborg Kommune
Tangoforeningen La Cunita
Colclear Implant Forening
FDF Sønderborg

We support Sonderborg2017

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This Friday (24th) is the big day when the decision on whether Sonderborg or Aarhus will be 2017 European Capital of Culture is taken. All the work of the last 3 years to bring this title to Sonderborg comes down to these days: the jury visit to Sonderborg on the 23rd of August and a presentation and question round on the 24th in Copenhagen.

The S2017 team has been working very hard to make what was at first a very far-fetched dream into reality. It has become more tangible through the active contribution of the citizens in the community. Getting the title and the large scale event that it is will further reconnect the community and make people proud to be a part of it: look at what the Olympics has done for the UK!

Sonderborg acutely needs this title to put itself on the European map. However, even more importantly, Sonderborg needs this title to ensure its future. At the moment 8 out of 10 young people who leave the area do not return and are not replaced as the dichotomy between city and countryside is seen an unbridgeable. But Sonderborg has the facilities, energy and drive to show the third alternative: a countryside metropolis with the benefits of both worlds. To achieve this goal the time to act is now; in 10 to 15 years it will be too late!

Show your support

Actively show your support by liking the S2017 facebook page and encourage your friends to do the same. To make it easier, we have added a ‘like’ link to the S2017 facebook page here, so no excuses:

If you feel that you need to inform yourself further about this process you can go to the S2017 website or visit the S2017 shop on Perlegade in Sonderborg.

You can also participate in the events organised in the week leading up to the decision. During this week, events will be going on every evening in front of the town hall. This will all lead up to a live transmission of the press conference stating the jury’s decision on Friday at 4pm, as part of the Culture Night Celebrations.

And of course, some luck never hurt anyone, so don’t forget to keep your fingers crossed!

Flensburg Nautics 2012

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The coming weekend, 17th to 19th of August, it’s time for the biennial Flensburg Nautics – a celebration of the city’s maritime history. There will be big sail boats visiting and a lot of things going on.

Some of the big ships that are scheduled to visit are:

You can even get on a sail boat yourself to experience first hand the historical activities on a traditional ship. There are short trips (1-2 hours) and long trips available (6 hours). Booking can be done from the page here.

On the harbour you can go see traditional crafts like rope makers, net weavers and carpenters and by some of them you can take part in them their craft. There will be all sorts of foods and drinks you can try. Plus live music from a couple of stages.

Friday the 17th August there will be a ‘parade’ as all the ships arrive and on Sunday around 3pm-4pm they will all leave again in another parade.

Friday night at 11pm there will be a 30-minute fireworks display, which you can enjoy good views of from all around the port.

From what I can tell from the website it might be even bigger than the Rum Regatta we went to earlier this year and that was a great experience.

Music fit for a King: Sonderborg Slot

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Traditionally the abode of kings, and nowadays the site of the area’s museum, Sonderborg Castle also hosts a number of musical events throughout the year. This might be an unlikely music venue, however, having served as a location for royal entertainment for centuries, it has the locations to satisfy modern expectations as well.

Queen Dorothea’s Chapel

During the summer, the chapel plays host to a number of concerts, mainly revolving around the chapel’s organ. The organ, which was reconstructed in 1996 in accordance with 16th century traditions, was built in 1570 by the organ builder Hermann Raphaelis. The programme of organ concerts in the chapel can be found on the castle’s website under arrangementer.

The Great Hall (Riddersal)

The great hall used to be the reception room for guests to the castle, and the scene for many parties and dances. Nowadays, it is used for both one-off concerts as well as for concerts of the Sonderborg music union. From here you also have the added bonus of a marvelous view of the harbour.
Camera Roll-507

Concerts

Our first experience of music events at the castle was during our visit to Sonderborg in September last year before we moved here. This was a vocal and organ concert in the chapel, and was excellent proof that we can find good quality music in the area should we move here.

Danish German Brass Academy

Recently we then attended an excellent brass concert following the annual Danish-German Brass Academy in Gråsten. The quality of the performances and the enthusiasm of the performers belied the fact that they had only been working on these pieces for a week! Ending the concert with Brahms lullaby as the castle’s clock was chiming the time was a fitting coincidence to this excellent concert.

Events south of the Border

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Every month we look at what is going on on this side of the Danish-German border. However, as well explained by the Sonderborg 2017 European Capital of Culture bid, there is a commonality between the two regions, and a need for all of us to work together if we want to succeed. So we decided to take a peek at some of the major events going on south of the border in August.

A good source of information for events going on in Schleswig-Holstein is the region’s own webpage. Although the website also has an English translation, we couldn’t find the events calendar in English. However, there are ample tools out there to help you translate the text and held you decided which events you want to travel for. This is what caught our eye:

Husum Harbour Days: Starting today, Husum is celebrating its connection to the sea with 5 days of activities around the harbour.

Busum kutterregatta: More sea-connected activities as shrimp boats compete for the ‘Blaue Band’ in this 2-day regatta (4-5 August)

Gottorf Castle celebrated its gardnes , especially the newly restored baroque ones on the 11th of August

Flensburg Nautics: Enjoy tall ships, gaff ships and yachts just across the border on the 17-19 August.

Lubeck Museum Night: Enjoy late night museum opening on the 25th of August (just after Sonderborg’s Culture night on the 24th)

So if you haven’t ventured south of the border during these holidays, what are your waiting for?