Approved at the a-round general meeting on September 24, 2025. Download the minutes as a PDF here …
Introduction and Board Reshuffle
Since the last annual general meeting in September 2024, the association has undergone a major restructuring. At an extraordinary general meeting in January 2025, the then-board stepped down as part of a planned process. The aim was to make room for the major cultural stakeholders in the municipality.
The new board now represents the City of Helsingør, Kronborg, the M/S Maritime Museum, Boliggården, Helsingør Theater, FC Helsingør, the International Folk High School, and HamletScenen as an alternate member. Citizens are also represented, including by Luna Voss. The alternate members are Henrik Irgens, a musician, and Aslak Gottlieb, who also serves as the board’s secretary.
With this composition, we have established a broad base of support that encompasses cultural institutions, the business community, the municipality, and citizens. This serves as the foundation for our work this year.
The association's working methods
The association continues to operate on two fronts. One is activity-based, where we draw on our members and network to initiate and support cultural events. The other is strategic and political work, which focuses on laying the groundwork for a future application for the title of European Capital of Culture.
The two aspects are closely linked. The activities we carry out are not separate from the Capital of Culture project, but rather concrete examples of the capacity and network on which an application must be based.
The Helen Russell Lecture
One example is the event held in April featuring British author and journalist Helen Russell, organized in collaboration with the International Folk High School and Magnae Vitae in Lincolnshire. The lecture took place on Montebello Allé and was followed by coffee and cake. At the same time, it was livestreamed to an audience in Lincolnshire.
This demonstrates how we can link local activities with a European perspective. We’ll host an entertaining folk high school event for the residents of Helsingør while also fostering international cooperation and raising our profile.
Art Rock and the 600th Anniversary Sculpture
A special collaboration this year has been with Anonym Kunstner on the Centuriae Elsinorae project—a community-curated artwork intended to serve as Elsinore’s gift to the people in celebration of the city’s 600th anniversary as a market town in 2026. The sculpture is being created through a collaborative process involving contributions from citizens, school students, associations, and businesses, and is being partially funded through crowdfunding and local fundraising efforts.
The association has served as a sponsor for the project and supported its development, including through the "Kunstrock" event at Elværket in May, where music, art, and fundraising came together in a festival of support. This collaboration demonstrates how citizen engagement and artistic initiative can go hand in hand with the logic of the Capital of Culture project: that major cultural initiatives must have broad public support and local roots.
The fundraising total is nearing a quarter of a million, and the next step is to submit an application to the Danish Arts Foundation, which will be drafted in collaboration with the City of Helsingør.
VIP Event at the PASSAGE Festival
During this year’s PASSAGE Festival, we invited members and partners to a VIP event. It included a sneak preview of Architects of Air and a special guided tour of the M/S Maritime Museum led by the museum director.
The PASSAGE Festival is in itself a prime example of Elsinore’s international cultural scene. Through the VIP event, we were able to link the festival experience to the association’s network and the European Capital of Culture project.
Culture Night
The association’s primary recurring responsibility is serving as the secretariat for Culture Night in Tikøb, Espergærde, Hornbæk, and Helsingør. We took over this responsibility from Helsingør Theater, and 2025 marked the third year that the association has been in charge.
Culture Night is a special tradition. The program is curated centrally only to a very limited extent. It is created through networking and collaboration across associations, institutions, volunteers, and the business community. This means that the association cannot take credit for the content. Our role is to create the framework, bring everything together, and support the collaboration.
From the perspective of a European Capital of Culture, this is precisely the strength of this format. Culture Night is an example of how capacity and networks can be built across sectors and among various stakeholders. It is the same logic on which a European Capital of Culture is based: that the municipality, the cultural sector, citizens, and the business community create something together that none of them could create alone.
This year’s Culture Night was a record-breaker. At the time of writing, we have approximately 150 events, partly because Espergærde chose to extend the event over an entire week. As a new feature, the finale in Espergærde will be moved up earlier in the evening so that everyone has the opportunity to participate in the joint closing ceremony in Helsingør. Here, the Culture Night torch will be carried in a torchlight procession along Strandvejen to Axeltorv, from where the audience will follow the Helsingør Girls’ Guard in a parade to Kulturværftet. On the quay, there will be a communal singing of a newly written ode to Helsingør around a bonfire, accompanied by a choir and musicians.
The support for the format is evident from the list of contributors to the closing event alone: Espergærde Centret, Puls 3060, Helsingør Handel, Kulturværftet, Kronborg EL, Forsyning Helsingør, Helsingør Havne, HAL 16, Helsingør Dagblad, Værftets Madmarked, Helsingør Pigegarde, six local choirs, composer Peter Spies, pianist Thomas Jaque, and singer Søren Launbjerg. In addition, there were the many participants in Tikøb and Hornbæk who organized local closing events.
Culture Night also received financial support. This year’s group of sponsors included Kronborg EL, Sydkystens EL, Brammers Menuer, STARK, SJF Bank, Bakke & Ko, and the City of Helsingør – .
International partnerships
Over the course of the year, we have worked to strengthen our international contacts.
– In England, through our collaboration with Magnae Vitae in Lincolnshire.
– In the Nordic region, through the planning of a symposium in collaboration with Kulturværftet and in dialogue with the Nordic Association, as well as through contacts with Helsingborg and other sister cities.
– In Italy through a dialogue with Brindisi, which will send a delegation to Helsingør this fall with a focus on port redevelopment.
– In Belgium through the partnership with Molenbeek, which is in the final stages of its application to become a European Capital of Culture, where we are participating in a project combining soccer and art.
These partnerships are still in their early stages, but they illustrate how we can connect Helsingør to European networks.
Strategic and policy work
On the political front, we have maintained an ongoing dialogue with local politicians and the municipal administration. This led us to invite the Culture Committee in August to collaborate on a plan for how the application can be developed jointly by all stakeholders. The Culture Committee is scheduled to review the matter after the municipal elections, and the municipal administration is currently preparing the groundwork.
The board is currently working on a strategy for the project. Wonderful Copenhagen is participating in the process, and Claus Bindslev from Nextstep is providing consulting support. The strategy is expected to be finalized by the end of the year.
In addition, we have contributed to the public debate through articles in the local press. The chairperson has written about the perspectives from the worlds of theater and culture, Ole Skjellerup from Boliggården has written from the perspective of social housing communities, and in August, Luna Voss published a column in Helsingør Dagblad in which she described the city as a body with culture at its heart.
600th anniversary in 2026
In recognition of the capacity we have built up, the City of Helsingør has asked us to organize the evening event in connection with the city’s 600th anniversary in 2026. We see this as a natural extension of our work with Culture Night. This assignment demonstrates that we are viewed as a reliable partner for major collaborative projects.
Conclusion
The association’s work over the past year demonstrates how these two aspects are interconnected. The specific events foster culture and a sense of community in the here and now. At the same time, they show that we can bring together stakeholders from across the board—precisely the ability required for a Capital of Culture bid.
Our strategic efforts continue to focus on building political support and establishing a clear framework. The task for the coming year is to translate the lessons we have learned into a plan that can serve as the basis for a political decision when the competition for the title is announced.
One focus is the role of culture in residential neighborhoods. Culture isn’t just created on big stages, but also in courtyards, community meals, street theater, and local festivals. Participation in these events is often free or inexpensive, and residents become not just spectators, but co-creators. This enhances both well-being and a sense of ownership and bridges the gap with established institutions.
Elsinore’s strength lies in this combination: world-class experiences at Kronborg and Kulturværftet alongside close-knit communities in the residential areas. For the Capital of Culture project, it is crucial that these two tracks be developed together. It is precisely this balance between the grand and the local that can make Helsingør a model for how culture brings people together across boundaries.
But when our association works to promote Elsinore as the European Capital of Culture in 2032, it is not just about our own municipality, city, and community. It is also about the entire island of Zealand, through a strategic partnership with Skåne, being able to thrive through culture and collaboration.
Today, municipalities on Zealand often compete with one another more than they cooperate. But with the upcoming fixed link to Germany, all of Eastern Denmark faces a new reality. If we are to take advantage of the opportunities this brings, we must think in terms of the bigger picture rather than in isolation.
A bid for the title of European Capital of Culture can be a tool for achieving just that. It is based on collaboration and partnerships, where citizens, businesses, municipalities, and cultural institutions work together. And even if Elsinore is not selected, we should hope that the title in 2032 goes to another city on Zealand. Because that will strengthen the entire region—as a destination for tourism, as a place to live, and as a bridge to Europe.
It is in this light that we must understand our work. The local and concrete aspects are necessary and valuable in themselves. But at the same time, they point toward a broader context: a Zealand that collaborates across boundaries and becomes a distinct part of Europe.
