Aarhus Festival to Open with Royal Presence
The Aarhus Festival (Aarhus Festuge) will once again kick off with grandeur as Queen Margrethe II of Denmark takes the stage for the festival’s official opening at the Musikhuset on Friday evening. Although the queen no longer serves as the patron for this cultural event, she has accepted the invitation to deliver this year’s opening speech. This decision has brought great joy to the festival’s director, Rikke Øxner.
“It is one of our proud traditions. The queen has been part of the festival since its inception in 1965 and took on the patronage even before she became regent,” explains Øxner.
The citizens of Aarhus celebrated the city’s cultural life with a festival for the first time 59 years ago, and since then, the queen has been a consistent presence at the event. She has only been absent on two occasions: in 2016 due to a foreign trip, and in 2020 when the entire festival was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In January, Queen Margrethe stepped down from the throne and passed it to Crown Prince Frederik. As part of this transition, she also reduced her number of patronages from 81 to 20, among which the Aarhus Festival was included. Nonetheless, the queen received an invitation from the festival secretariat, which she happily accepted.
“Her presence adds royal prestige to our event and to Aarhus as a city. The queen’s participation in the gala opening gives the occasion a special magnificence and attracts media from across the country. It creates a sense of pride in the city,” emphasizes Øxner.
The festival director has already outlined plans to invite the queen again next year when the festival celebrates its 60th anniversary.
“We don’t yet know what will happen next year. However, with the 60th anniversary, we hope it can be an opportunity for another visit from Queen Margrethe. For now, we are just pleased that she has agreed to participate this year,” says Øxner.
As is customary, the festival will open on the last Friday of August and will kick off ten days filled with around 1,000 events in Denmark’s second-largest city.