Palm Beach and Naval Battle: Events and Experiences in a Danish Fringe Area

The city of Frederikshavn has in recent years established itself as a city of events and experiences. Despite the Scandinavian geography, the city yearly establishes a palm beach -Palm Beach 9900 FRH - with reference to a southern holiday paradise. They also arrange a two day 18^th century naval battle called the Days of Tordenskiold (Danish: Tordenskjolddagene) where the city celebrates its naval history. These events are mixed with visits of celebrities like Bill Clinton and other events and initiatives - and the city seems to be something out of the ordinary.

 

Frederikshavn is situated in a fringe area of Denmark with a declining population. Further, in the 1990s, the city of Frederikshavn went through rough times with the closing down of big industries and a following high rate of unemployment in the blue collar workforce. This focus on events and experiences shall be seen as a way out of this crisis - finding alternatives to a formerly great production and maritime industry. The city's key word is experience economy, and the many events and experiences are seen as a way of positioning the city on the map of Denmark - standing out from the crowd. The question is now whether it is succeeding or whether Frederikshavn, on the altar of experience, becomes a shallow FUN city without other intentions than to entertain?

 

This paper will try to examine the city of Frederikshavn and all its events and experiences and through this discuss the impact of this focus on leisure.