Aarhus Connections – Festival Week's 60th Anniversary Concert

The full moon rose behind the stage at Pier 3 on Saturday evening. The harbor was buzzing with life, the air was warm, and right there at dusk, Aarhus Festuge's 60th anniversary concert began. It could hardly have been staged more beautifully.

The gates were already open from 17 p.m. The long tables in front of the food stalls were buzzing with atmosphere and colorful fairy lights. Pork roast sandwiches, Greek pita and fish and chips were washed down with jugs of draft beer, while warm-up bands on the small container stage played the first notes. There was a real street food vibe over the square, where people met old acquaintances, greeted neighbors and saw colleagues they hadn't seen in years. "We've been part of the Festival for many years, so of course we're here tonight too," as a group at the tables said.

It wasn't until around 20 p.m. that the space in front of the main stage began to fill up. And when darkness fell over Aarhus Ø and the full moon rose, 18.000 guests were ready.

A parade of Aarhusian voices

Birthe Kjær opened the party with “Vi si'r tillýkke”, a song title that in itself set the tone for an evening that was about paying tribute to the city's music scene.
Peter AG took up the thread with “Lower the sun over Aarhus”, and from there the evening’s parade unfolded. New voices like Aggi, who paid tribute to Natasja with “Give me Denmark back”, mixed with the big names who have shaped the city’s soundtrack for decades.

Allan Olsen shared anecdotes from the 1970 Festival, where he himself was on the bill with Jimi Hendrix and The Rolling Stones. The audience laughed when he told about his meeting with the Queen and cheered when Tina Dickow stepped up and sang the Stones with him.

Photo: Tina Dickow and Allan Olesen

Dickow herself shared a childhood memory from Festugen in '93, where Björk and Rage Against the Machine changed her life path. And that's how it went. Asbjørn got the slightly older audience to rock along and Anna Frank gave Helmig's classic "It's me standing here knocking" new life. Thomas Helmig, who came on stage afterwards, got the party started with the words "It's a great evening, and it's a great city", before launching into Gnags' "Under the Beech", flanked by a choir of gospel singers.

Photo: Thomas Helmig and Peter AG

Audience of all ages

Between the songs, the atmosphere was just as important as the music. In front of the stage stood four friends who have known each other since first grade at the Steiner School.
“We bought tickets just to have a nice evening. We were walking around Aarhus at the time and listening to this music, so it felt completely natural to be standing here.”

A football team of men in their early 30s from Djursland had made the trip to the harbor with money from the fines box, and here in the middle of the crowd of slightly older spectators, they almost fell out of favor.
“Aarhus is Aarhus, whether it's Brabrand, Viby or Djursland. And when Helmig and Steffen Brandt play, we're here,” said Oliver Johansen from the team.

And a little further back in the square sat guests who had been there since the opening at 17 p.m. They had chosen to stay at the long tables throughout the concert. When asked why they were here tonight, there was no doubt:
“The ticket was cheap, and these are musicians from Aarhus, we just had to experience it.”

And then there was the married couple who were out celebrating their own small private anniversary this week, because they had just met each other at Aarhus Festuge many years ago.

The audience generally had the impression of being the slightly older Aarhus crowd. An average age would be around 40 years old, and this is precisely the generation that remembers the old Aarhus musicians and has danced to them in the city's discos for decades.

Photo: Guests sitting at the long tables by the square

Music as a shared memory

The audience had another unforgettable moment when Peter AG and Helmig performed “Malaga” together. With gospel in the background and the whole of Aarhus as a backdrop, the song took on a new meaning, as a tribute to both the city and the community.

After being on stage, Mek Pek introduced Birthe Kjær with the story that her first performance in Aarhus was at Tivoli Friheden at the age of 12. Birthe came on stage again and sang “2 lys på et bord”, after which she shouted to the audience with a twinkle in her eye: “Is there a party in Festugen? Then we should paint the city red too!” And to everyone’s great cheers, she launched into her signature classic.

Lis Sørensen entered the stage and sang along, and later Steffen Brandt joined the party, singing, among other things, “Stupid Man,” which Thomas Helmig joined in on.

Photo: Lis Sørensen and Birthe Kjær

Behind the scenes, a large part of the practical setup involved the volunteers.

A concert of this size cannot be done without volunteers. For Aarhus Forbindelser, it was both local associations that contributed to the association's fund, and volunteers from the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation who bore a large part of the responsibility.

Marie, who has been a volunteer at the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation since 2015, says that around 300–350 volunteers were on duty during the evening.

The volunteers came from all over the country, some were picked up by bus and accommodated at a school in Aarhus before heading home on Sunday. “It’s a great arrangement that no matter where you come from in the country, you can hop on buses from the collection towns. That way, volunteering won’t be a hassle,” says Marie.

Photo: Volunteers from the bar up to the left of the stage

The entire setup, from the stage to the bar tents, was Muskelsvindfonden's own equipment, the same that is normally used at Grøn Koncert. But there was also a need for extra hands. “A local association in Aarhus provided six people at very short notice. It shows that even if you are not necessarily part of Krævet, you can still join in. And it's great that we have the culture where everyone just works together when we are on the square.”

It was busy at times, especially at the 4 bars where the queues grew. “We had an hour or an hour and a half where we couldn’t keep up with the beers. It’s a shame, but that’s how it is when the pace is high,” Marie says with a smile.

For her, however, it's about more than the music. "It's rarely the music that draws me in when I volunteer. It's the community. Something special happens when you volunteer for an event like this."

Aarhus in the background

Two large screens ensured that even those at the back could follow along. And those without tickets stood outside the entrance and watched the concert on the screens.

Pier 3 proved to be a special place for this particular evening. On the left, Aarhus Ø, behind the stage the container port towers, and on the right, Navitas and the city skyline. And in front of thousands of audience members who sang along to all the songs from the stage.

Saturday evening was a celebration of 60 years of Festuge, of a city that holds together through music and of Aarhus' connections, old and new.

Photo: “When Aarhus celebrates itself, we want to join in celebrating with the city,” say three women from West Funen who went to the anniversary concert.