Fastelavn, the most festive networking event!

Thank you to our sponsors and everyone who came out to celebrate with us!

It was a colorful Sunday in Mont Kiara as DANCHAM hosted one of our more festive networking events – the annual Danish family carnival, Fastelavn. This offered a great opportunity for our member to enjoy and share a popular Danish tradition with family, friends, colleagues, partners and clients.

Allan Jensen, Chairman DANCHAM, welcomed everyone introducing the traditions, sponsors and the upcoming MDBC events.

Traditional events include slå katten af tønden (“hit the cat out of the barrel”), which is somewhat similar to using a piñata. 

The Fastelavn Clown entertained the youngest participants making bolloon animals, singing songs and much more.

The barrels are full of candy and sometimes oranges and has the image of a cat on it. After the candy pours out, the game continues until the entire barrel is broken. 

The kids had a wonderful time in their creative costumes, enjoying fun entertainment, bashing of barrels, great prizes, and of course large amounts of candy. It was a good day for the grownups too, with clear skies and the opportunity to feast on juicy hot dogs and yummy refreshments from our generous sponsors – Carlsberg, Sunquick, Uhrenholt (Emborg), Arla, Copenhagen Coffee and Danfoss.

These kind of events brings the opportunity for networking in a relaxed atmosphere, enjoying the delicious snacks and beverages kindly provided by our generous sponsors. 

The children enjoys celebrating traditions from home.

There were prizes for best costume, and the choice wasn’t easy with so many creative and home made outfits.

Cat queens and Cat Kings of 2019.

The one who knocks down the bottom of the barrel (making all the candy spill out) becomes kattedronning (“queen of cats”); the one who knocks down the last piece of the barrel becomes kattekonge (“king of cats”).

What is Fastelavn?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The term Fastelavn comes from Old Danish fastelaghen, which was a borrowing of the Middle Low German vastel-avent, meaning “fast-evening”, or the day before Lent. 

Traditional events include slå katten af tønden (“hit the cat out of the barrel”), which is somewhat similar to using a piñata. The Danes use a wooden barrel, which is full of candy and sometimes oranges and has the image of a cat on it. After the candy pours out, the game continues until the entire barrel is broken. The one who knocks down the bottom of the barrel (making all the candy spill out) becomes kattedronning (“queen of cats”); the one who knocks down the last piece of the barrel becomes kattekonge (“king of cats”).

In Denmark, the barrel tradition has been practised for centuries, possibly introduced by Dutch immigrants to Copenhagen during the reign of Christian II of Denmark in the early 1500s. Historically, there was a real cat in the barrel, and beating the barrel was superstitiously considered a safeguard against evil. It was practised up until the 1800s, with the last known event occurring in the 1880s. The cat was not killed, but allowed to escape when the barrel was broken.