Smukfest (also known as the Skanderborg Festival) is an annual

music festival A music festival is a festival, community event with music, performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock music, rock, blues, folk music, folk, jazz, classical music), nation ...

, held during the second weekend of August in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. Its location, in a

beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

forest in the vicinity of

Skanderborg Skanderborg is a town in Skanderborg Municipality, Denmark. It is situated on the north and north eastern brinks of Skanderborg Lake and there are several smaller ponds and bodies of water within the city itself, like Lillesø, Sortesø, Døj S ...

, has given rise to the

slogan A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan or a political, commercial, religious, or other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the public or a more defined target group ...

"Denmark's Most Beautiful Festival" (Danish: ''Danmarks Smukkeste Festival''). The festival covers many styles of music, such as

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

, heavy metal,

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

and electronic. The festival focuses mainly on Danish music, but with some big names from other countries e.g.

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

Pet Shop Boys Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music h ...

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which per ...

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer *Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in 1 ...

Fat Boy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known as Fatboy Slim, is an English musician and DJ who helped popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. His music makes extensive use of samples from eclectic genres, combined ...

, Blood Hound Gang,

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and many more. The first festival was held in 1980, and was a one-day event with 7 bands and about 600 spectators. The festival has a mascot called "Waltidur Festismuk Kærligkys Ølimund Rockilund Trold" (Waltidur Party-beauty Loving-kiss Beer-in-mouth Rock-in-grove Troll), born in 1579, thus the festival was born on Waltidurs 400th birthday. In 2009, Skanderborg Festival was held for the 30th time and is today the second largest festival in Denmark, after the

Roskilde Festival The Roskilde Festival is a Danish music festival held annually south of Roskilde. It is one of the largest music festivals in Europe and the largest in the Nordic countries. It was created in 1971 by two high school students and a promoter. In 1 ...

. The festival gathered more than 50,000 people for the concerts, including 8,500 workers, most of them volunteers and has reached the current site's maximum capacity.

Stages

The festival has 4 stages (2016): # Bøgescenerne / The Main Stages # P3-teltet ( Danish National Radio has a station called P3) # Stjerne-scenen (Star Stage) # Sherwood-scenen (Sherwood Stage) The festival main stage consist of two stages and is called "Bøgescenerne" (Beech stages).

Music performances

Image:Gnags, Smukfest, 2016.jpg, Gnags, 2016 Image:Walter Trout and sons, Smukfest 2016.jpg, Walter Trout and sons, 2016 Image:Peter Sommer Smukfest 2013 (cropped).jpg, Peter Sommer, 2013 Image:Dúné 20130810 (Smukfest).jpeg, Dúné, 2013 Image:Savage Rose - Smukfest 2011.jpg, Savage Rose, 2011

External links

References

{{Coord, 56.026, 9.920, type:event_region:DK, display=title Rock festivals in Denmark Music festivals in Denmark Skanderborg 1980 establishments in Denmark Tourist attractions in the Central Denmark Region Music festivals established in 1980 Pop music festivals Folk festivals in Denmark Summer in Denmark