The Danish Festival takes place mostly in downtown Greenville with plenty of vendors, a food area, a beer tent with entertainment and an activity for kids. A marketplace with more food can be found in Veterans Memorial Park.
2023 Date: August 16-20, 2023
Location: 210 S. Lafayette St
Greenville, MI 48838
Website: http://www.danishfestival.org/
This post documents my experience on August 17, 2019.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: After attending the festival, I learned that there was a second location (at Veterans Memorial Park) with vendors, food and entertainment. According to the festival booklet, there was also a shuttle service that connected it to the downtown. Unfortunately, I did not see any indication of this second location nor the shuttle service during my time at the festival.
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In the heart of Greenville, Michigan…
…volunteers were busy frying up aebleskivers…
…or Danish pancake balls…
…which were then enhanced with powdered or brown sugar…
…before being happily devoured.
Welcome to the Danish Festival…
…where people came to celebrate the Danish culture…
…via Danish flags…
…Danish kringle…
…nods to Hans Christian Andersen…
…and even some Danish gnomes called “Nisse” (Natural Cottage Soaps).
Vendors formed two rows down several blocks…
…offering everything from Danish Beer Soap (Natural Cottage Soaps)…
…to beach life decor…
…and everything in-between, including metallic sculptures…
…Michigan T-shirts…
…books for all ages…
…handmade leather purses…
…bows and arrows for the kids…
…coffee mug lamps…
…and some really creative handmade Victorian Witch Hats…
…which also offered the occasional taxidermized fairy mouse prince (Victorian Witch Hat)!
In terms of food…
…besides the aforementioned Danish foods and a Danish dinner scheduled later that day…
…most food options were festival standard with burgers and hot dogs…
…pizza…
…and carnival food.
There were also some non-Danish ethnic foods/snacks that included Mexican burritos and tamales…
…German roasted almonds…
…and Dutch kettle korn…
…okay, maybe it’s just Dutch-American made kettle korn. :-)
In terms of entertainment, one end of the festival was named Hans Christian Andersen Park…
…where kids could enjoy face painting…
…various games…
…and booths that hosted crafts and activities (Big Brothers Big Sisters/Flat River Academy).
And, when adults weren’t tracing their Danish roots…
…they could hang out at the beer tent…
…for a cold one (Greenville Rotary Club)…
…and some live entertainment.