A more than eight decade old tradition on the Central Coast is the latest community celebration to be cancelled as a result of the surge in COVID-19 numbers. Organizers of Solvang’s Danish Days have decided to pull the plug on this year’s event.
It’s traditionally the community’s biggest celebration of the year, attracting tens of thousands of tourists.
The weekend long celebration honors the community’s roots and its founding in 1911. It features events like an ax-throwing contest, a torchlight parade and a living history festival.
This year’s festival had been set for the weekend of September 17 though 19. Organizers say with the celebration a little over a month away, and so many unknows due to COVID-19 surges, they felt the safest thing to do was cancel it.
They say a major impetus for the decision was the new indoor face mask mandate in Santa Barbara County, which as of Friday night requires everyone to be masked regardless of vaccination status.
It’s the second year in a row that Danish Days has been cancelled due to the pandemic.
