About Aarhus 2017

Welcome to Aarhus 2017 and our year as European Capital of Culture. During 2017 we will work and play. We celebrate the "folkelige" traditions and the newest that culture can deliver in Art, Theatre, Dance, Music, Literature and artisanal practices such as Gastronomy, Architecture and Design. We are creating Spectacle and Speculations - Celebrations, Contemplations and Provocations.

We examine our Danish DNA and take delight and pride in its unique history. We ask ourselves what do we keep and what do we let go as we move into the future. And we enlarge our European dimension with many cultural partnerships and collaborations so we can learn from and share with others. And we gather our Region together for fun, festivities, fireworks and feasts.

We are making a year that touches all aspects of Danish culture from contemporary architecture as an agent for liveability to pageants of our Viking past. We rethink masterworks and invent new icons. We examine our past to better shape and understand our future.

And of course, we will have plenty of "Hygge"!

Let's Rethink
More than anything else, Aarhus 2017 is about rethinking. Our theme Let's Rethink indicates that Aarhus 2017 wish to transform the Central Denmark Region to a cultural laboratory, where alternative solutions can grow. Read more here. 

See an overview of our Programme Themes here. 

Partners
Aarhus 2017 is a highly ambitious programme. The only way to do it is through partnerships and cooperation with stakeholders, who will continue to implement and develop the ideas beyond 2017.

See an overview of our partners here.