Every society has particular rituals. The different rituals in this section testify to the role of rituals in Danish society. There is a wide variety of ways in which rituals may be performed, ranging from different types of birthday parties to the making of Christmas (Jul) and music festivals.

Following a seventy year old and an eighteen year old’s birthday we ask whether the birthday party gets less exciting with age and what sort of ritual performances is important and necessary to the different types of birthday party? Why is giving a gift more important than the gift itself? And why do young people put themselves through extreme rituals, such as drinking 18 shots of alcohol when turning 18?

From birthday parties we go to explore Christmas. It is a special time a year in Denmark, but why is this? Is it a re-enactment of a religious event or a testimony to people’s religious and social values? Through a guide to how you can prepare for Christmas, we try to give answer to why so many Danish people celebrate Christmas.

Finally we look into the question of festivals, why do people go to festivals? And what kind of processes go into creating a festival? By investigating all the different elements which generate the firework festival in Bjerringbro, we explore what a festival consist of? What makes a festival a festival?

Throughout our different Danish rituals the texts in this section raise question such as why ritual is so persuasive and powerful and what social values are communicated through rituals? The different rituals we encounter entail significant cost and investment of time, energy and resources and some of them without any immediately appeals. As rituals might help people reflect on their role in society, maybe you can come to think of rituals and traditions you yourself are a part of and why you are doing these rituals?