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Which roads in Copenhagen are closed this week for the Distortion festival?

Is it the highlight of your year or a bit of an inconvenience? Here's a quick guide to which streets in Copenhagen will be closed for this week's Distortion street festival.

Published: 1 June 2023 11:04 CEST

Which roads in Copenhagen are closed this week for the Distortion festival?

Young Danes getting ready to party at the start of Copenhagen's Distortion festival on Wednesday night. Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix

Thursday.

After its grand launch on Langebro on Wednesday evening, the festival takes over Vesterbro on Thursday. There will also be a smaller Distortion X event around Copenhagen Town Hall. This means a big chunk of Vesterbro is off limits to cars and also arguably to any pedestrians not wanting to be swept up in the revelry.

The car free area takes in everything above the main railway track between Copenhagen Central Station and Carlsberg Station, to the east of Enghavevej, and is then bordered at the top by Frederikstadsgade, Matthæusgade, Absolonsgade and Eskilsgade, and Halmtorvet. The meatpacking district is not off limits to cars, but is likely to be swept up in the partying.

The parking ban came into effect at 11pm on Wednesday evening, according to the festival organisers’ information sheet (Danish), and will not be completely removed until 7am on Friday.

Any cars that do not comply with a parking ban will be removed by the police, with the car’s owner then having to pay the cost.

Anyone with a residents’ parking license for the area covered, will have their licence automatically extended to Valby and Indre By areas, so they can park their cars there instead.

The street party proper starts at 4pm and continues until 10pm.

You can find out more by downloading the official festival app here (Android) or here (Apple)

A big chunk of Vesterbro is off limits to cars on Thursday while the festival takes place. Graphic: Distortion

Around the Radhuspladsen Square in front of Copenhagen Town hall, the Vester Voldgade street between Lavendelstræde and the Strøget shopping street will be closed to traffic between May 29th and June 3rd.

You can find more details here (Danish).

Friday

On Friday and Saturday the party takes over the Refshaleøen peninsular, which due to the relatively low level of inhabitants means a lot less disruption.

Refshalevej, the road into the peninsular, will be closed to private car traffic between 5pm and midnight, from the point at which it passes Vandflyverhangaren, the former aircraft hanger that has been converted into a modern office building. The cordon will be manned and people on business or residential errands will still be able to drive in and out.

The partying on Refshaleøen will be limited to two areas on the peninsular. Photo: Distortion

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Five music festivals happening in Denmark this summer

Northside

Northside is an annual three-day music festival in Eskelunden, Aarhus. With between 35,000 and 40,000 people attending the festival over the course of three days, plus four stages and sideshow events, it is one of the largest music festivals in Denmark.

NorthSide wants to become the most sustainably driven and environmentally conscious festival in the Nordic countries. In 2022, the festival ran on electricity from the grid for the first time and became the first festival in Denmark to go plant-based.

When: 6th-8th June 2024

2024 Lineup: There’a a wide range of music genres from rock, indie, electronic, to hip-hop. This year’s line up includes Pulp, Massive Attack, Kaytranada, St.Vincent, The Smile, Troye Sivan, Royal Blood, Love Shop.

Tickets: The current price for a three-day ticket is 2,395 kroner. These tickets are substantially cheaper the earlier you book. A day ticket costs 1,295 kroner. A two-day ticket costs 1,995 kroner.

Accommodation: There isn’t any camping or accommodation at the festival, or parking for cars. But the festival is accessible by public transport, walking or bike and there are camping or other accommodation options close by.

Northside Festival

NorthSide in 2023. Photo: Mikkel Berg Pedersen/Ritzau Scanpix

Tinderbox

Based in Odense, Tinderbox hosts a mix of international artists, Danish musicians and electronic music, playing out from Magicbox, the electric stage.

The festival is held in the Tusindårsskoven nature reserve in western Odense, which you can walk to from the city centre.

The festival bills itself as encompassing electronic music, nostalgic 90s in the Groove box, comedy acts, Ferris wheel rides, a champagne hill, local culinary experiences and sustainability.

When: 27th-29th June 2024

2024 Lineup: Raye, Avril Lavigne, David Guetta, Benjamin Ingrosso, Bryan Adams, DK Sashi, Kind Mod Kind, James Arthur, Miss Monique, Kaizers Orchestra.

Tickets: 2,595 kroner for a full three-day pass, 2,295 for a two-day ticket and 1,395 for a one-day ticket. You can also upgrade to a VIP option.

Accommodation: Camping, glamping or something called a sleep box with a foam mattress are the options. Outside of the festival, there’s accommodation in Odense but it gets booked up quickly. Alternatively, there’s camping at Dyrskuepladsen.

Crowds enjoying George Ezra play at Tinderbox in 2023. Photo: Helle Arensbak/Ritzau Scanpix

Vig Festival

This is very much a family festival, over three days in Vig, which is located in the northwestern part of Zealand. The music ranges from rock, pop and blues and there are activities for all ages.

When: 10th-13th July 2024

2024 Lineup: Infernal, Gobs, Zar Paulo, Mads Christian, ISSE, Gabriel Jacobsen, Rasmus Seebach.

Tickets: A one-day ticket costs between 925 kroner and 1,025 kroner depending on the day you attend.

Children up to the age of 11 can enter for free, as long as they are accompanied by a paying adult.

A full festival three-day ticket costs between 1,375 kroner and 1,825 kroner, depending how early/late you buy.

A full festival family ticket for one adult (18+) plus a child aged 12-15, costs 2,125 kroner.

Accommodation: There are various camping options, from the free site, where it’s first come first served and pitch your own tent; to pre-booked and paid for camping sites with or without electricity, or without music. There’s the option for a tent to be pitched for you, which you then take home, or you can stay in a caravan or a room at the nearby højskole.

All options come with varying prices which includes the price of the festival ticket.

There’s parking on site and a festival shuttle bus.

Smukfest

Located in a forest in Skanderborg, the name Smukfest comes from its beautiful location. The main stage is set in a national amphitheatre, surrounded by old beech trees.

Running since 1980, the festival is more than music and celebrates being together, with young, old and families all welcome. It sells itself as a festival with social, environmental and economic sustainable values.

The festival is big, second in size to Roskilde, with around 60,000 people attending. There are over 200 acts across 6 stages plus art installation and other activities, over five days.

Smukfest

Smukfest in 2023. Photo:Helle Arensbak/Ritzau Scanpix

When: 4th to 11th August. Smukfest is unusual in that it is a five-day festival with three warm-up days.

2024 Lineup: The festival includes rock, pop, folk, heavy metal, hip-hop and electronic music.

This year’s artists include Diana Ross, who is performing on Saturday, Example, Sam Smith, The Prodigy, Faithless, The Darkness, VETO, Zara Larsson, Moonjam, Ankerstjerne, Mads Langer, Rasmus Seebach, Sanne Salomonsen with The Antonelli Orchestra, Abba tribute, Queen Machine and the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra.

Tickets: Access to the whole week (partoutbillet) costs 3,495 kroner. This includes being able to camp in your own tent, ride the shuttle bus and use the cloakroom.

A one-day wristband costs between 1,695 kroner and 495 kroner depending on the day. Children’s day tickets cost 150 kroner.

If you’re staying, you pay for accommodation as part of entry.

Accommodation: There’s a variety of places to stay for different budgets and festival goers, in various festival ‘neighbourhoods’.

You can camp on site, or a shuttle-bus away in a forest, stay in a hut or luxury cabin house (5000 kroner), or bring your caravan or camper van on site (950 kroner). There is the option for the festival to set up a tent for you that’s ready and waiting when you arrive and you get to take the tent home with you afterwards. The price for this is 1,200 kroner and 2,400 kroner depending on tent size.

Smukfest

Drew Sycamore playing at Smukfest in 2023 Photo: Helle Arensbak/Ritzau Scanpix

Roskilde

The big one – in fact the largest music festival in the Nordic countries and one of the largest music festivals in Europe. To give you an idea of scale, the 130,000 festival goers who attend, would rank the festival as Denmark’s fourth largest city.

Created in 1971 by two high school students and a promoter, it’s now run as a non-profit organisation with approximately 30,000 volunteers.

There are eight stages and around 200 music acts, plus artists, authors, performers, speakers, graffiti artists and architects.

The festival is also famous for its annual naked run on the Saturday. Started in 1999 and organised by Roskilde Festival Radio, runners dash around a fenced-in track around the camp site, completely naked. The male and female winners receive a ticket for the following year’s festival.

When: Sat 29th June – Sat 6th July 2024 (music starts on Wednesday 3rd July).

2024 Lineup: From rap, pop, alternative rock, neo-soul, jazz, and electronic, there’s a whole range of artists. Danish hip-hop star, Lamin, will open the Orange Stage. Other acts include Foo Fighters, Ice Spice, Omah Lay, Bondshell, Aurora, Gilli, PJ Harvey, Tems, J Hus, Medina, Jane’s Addiction, Overmono.

Tickets: Full festival tickets cost 2,400 kroner, one day tickets cost 1,200 kroner.

Accommodation: The festival campsite covers nearly 80 hectares (200 acres) and access to it is included in the ticket price. It usually opens on the Saturday afternoon and you can turn up and pitch your tent.

You can upgrade your camping experience with the festivals ‘special camping’, which includes a reserved site, tents that are put up for you that you then take home, quiet camping, tent houses, places to park your motorhome, caravan or an area for those with motorbikes.

There’s also something called Community Camping, where you get to create your own community by applying to a specific area/community beforehand and you give something back by looking after the area and helping with the clean up.

Roskilde Festival

Roskilde Festival 2023 in front of the Orange Stage. Photo: Torben Christensen/Ritzau Scanpix

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