When the bells ring on November 1 at 00.00, the Christmas season officially opens in Denmark. If you pay attention on that first day of the month, you might notice staff hanging lights over street crossings and even at the iconic Hôtel D’Angleterre on the last day of October. As Halloween exits the stage, the holiday flare is ready to take the spotlight.
In 2024, November 1 landed perfectly to open the month with J-Day, one of the country’s biggest holiday celebrations. It is traditionally celebrated on the first Friday of the month, a concrete rite of passage into the winter season. The celebration was originally created 34 years ago, in 1990, when the Danish brewery Tuborg first introduced its Christmas beer, “Tuborg Julebryg”, which literally translated to Christmas brew.
On J-Day, Tuborg employees around the country get dressed as “beer elves”, also known as nissedreng, distributing Jylebrug in bars, cafés and pubs around Denmark. What makes this beverage distinct from other beers is its darker color and its maltier flavor, brewed with hints of caramel, and, obviously, licorice.
As the clock hits 20.59, the Tuborg trucks arrive to the sound of holiday music, and the first glasses are poured. It’s a hard-to-miss type of show, with snowflake confetti, Christmas hats and other decorations.
Although J-Day was originally founded as a commercial event, it has quickly become rooted in Danish culture, offering an excuse to feel jolly about the incoming Christmas carols and cold days. Around Scandinavia, other traditional seasonal drinks of this sort exist. In Sweden, it is Julmust, a sweet, dark, carbonated drink that resembles root beer but has no alcohol (and it often outsells Coca-Cola!). In Norway, it is Julebrus, a sweet and fruity soda – you can find a different edition of it for each region of the country.
