golden days

What golden days does

Golden Days is Denmark's largest annual cultural history festival, operated by Fonden ADBC, a non-profit Danish foundation. Founded in 2017 with the inaugural "København 850" theme celebrating Copenhagen's 850th anniversary, the festival runs over 17 days each September and explores a different cultural-historical theme annually (recent themes include QUEENS, På landet, På arbejde, Kærlighed, and MONSTER for 2026). It produces 150-200+ events spanning film screenings, concerts, theatre performances, academic lectures, workshops, walking tours, and family programming, attracting more than 30,000 attendees per edition. The festival serves a broad public audience interested in making cultural history accessible, working through a curated network of 100+ partner institutions across the Copenhagen metropolitan area including museums, libraries, cinemas, theatres, and concert venues.

The business model combines ticket sales (priced from free with mandatory registration up to 580 kr. per ticket, with member and student discounts) with institutional funding. Financial support is drawn from Copenhagen and Frederiksberg municipalities, the national Statens Kunstfond, and at least seven private Danish foundations including Augustinus Fonden, Ny Carlsberg Fondet, William Demant Fonden, Knud Højgaards Fond, Det Obelske Familiefond, S.C. Van Fonden, and Frederiksberg Fonden. The technical platform is a modest web-based program site (goldendays.dk) integrated with multiple partner ticketing providers, supported by email newsletter, Facebook, and Instagram promotional channels and distributed promotion through each partner institution's own audience channels. Leadership is led by Direktør Svante Lindeburg and Festivalchef Johan Kruse, with a board chaired by historian Marie-Louise Bech Nosch (University of Copenhagen).

Name

golden days

Legal name

Fonden ADBC

Website

https://goldendays.dk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Golden Days is Denmark's largest annual cultural history festival, organized by non-profit Fonden ADBC, featuring 150-200+ themed events over 17 days in September across 100+ Copenhagen partner venues for 30,000+ attendees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cultural Festival Services

NAICS

Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries (711), Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Arts & Culture Community Festivals (Multidisciplinary Arts Weeks) (MPAGAEAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Cultural & Community Festivals (Ticketed) (THAJAFAI)

Keywords

• Cultural history festival
• Themed arts programming
• Public cultural events
• Institutional cultural partnerships
• Nonprofit festival organization

Headquarters

HQ city

Copenhagen

HQ country

Denmark

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Ticket sales: The festival generates revenue primarily through ticket sales for individual events. Ticket prices vary per event, with standard prices, discounted member/student rates, and free events. Pricing ranges from free (tilmelding nødvendig) to 580 kr. per event.
2. Institutional funding and grants: Golden Days is a non-profit cultural organization that receives financial support from Danish municipal governments (Københavns Kommune, Frederiksberg Kommune), national foundations (Statens Kunstfond), and private foundations (Augustinus Fonden, Ny Carlsberg Fondet, William Demant Fonden, Knud Højgaards Fond, etc.). This funding supports festival operations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Golden Days organizes Denmark's largest annual cultural history festival, held over 17 days each September across the Copenhagen metropolitan area. Each year features a different theme (e.g., MONSTER in 2026, Kærlighed in 2025) explored through 150-200+ events including film screenings, concerts, theater performances, lectures, workshops, walking tours, and exhibitions. The festival is co-produced with 100+ institutional partners and attracts 30,000+ attendees annually.

Product overview

Golden Days is Denmark's largest cultural history festival organized as a single annual event with varying annual themes. The festival operates as a curated program of 150+ diverse cultural events spanning film, music, theater, literature, visual arts, and academic lectures. Events are created in collaboration with over 100 partner institutions across Copenhagen. The 2026 edition runs September 4–20 with the theme MONSTER, featuring over 200 arrangements.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Golden Days Festival
• Festival Program Events

Quantifiable outcome

• Annual audience of over 30,000 people
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Museums (100+ partner institutions)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGolden Days collaborates with over 100 partner institutions in Copenhagen and surrounding areas, including museums, cultural centres, libraries, cinemas, theatres, concert venues, organizations, and businesses to co-produce the annual festival program.
• ADBCcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerADBC is the organization behind Golden Days. ADBC is described as one of Denmark's leading houses for concept development, consulting, and dissemination of history, culture, art, nature, and science. ADBC has 30 years of experience with communication and events.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Festspillene i Bergen: Norway's leading annual performing-arts festival in Bergen, organized as a curated multi-venue event with thematic programming. Comparable in Nordic cultural-festival positioning, multidisciplinary scope and partnership-driven distribution.
• CPH:DOX: Copenhagen-based annual documentary film and culture festival using multi-venue programming across the city. Comparable in Copenhagen geography, cultural-audience focus and distributed partner-venue model.
• Holland Festival: The Netherlands' leading annual performing-arts festival, also multidisciplinary and curated across multiple venues. Comparable in scale, thematic annual programming and public funding model.
• Salzburg Festival: Prestigious annual multidisciplinary arts festival combining opera, drama and concerts across partner venues. Comparable in large-scale thematic festival structure, prestige positioning and reliance on institutional support.
• Roskilde Festival: Denmark's largest annual music and culture festival, also event-driven and non-profit, funded through a foundation model. Comparable in operating scale, institutional sponsorship structure, and reliance on Copenhagen-area audiences and partners.
• Edinburgh Festival Fringe: The world's largest performing-arts festival, also annually themed and spread across many partner venues. Comparable in scale, multidisciplinary programming, thematic annual identity and reliance on distributed venue partnerships.
• Avignon Festival: Iconic French annual multidisciplinary arts festival built around a curated program across multiple partner venues. Comparable in city-wide, multi-venue, theme-driven cultural festival model and institutional structure.
• Copenhagen Jazz Festival: Annual multi-venue cultural festival in Copenhagen drawing tens of thousands of attendees across partner venues. Directly comparable in event-driven model, city-wide partnership distribution and Danish non-profit festival structure.
• CPH Stage: Copenhagen's annual performing-arts festival featuring theatre and dance across multiple partner venues. Comparable in city, multi-venue, partner-driven festival structure and cultural-audience targeting.
• Distortion: Copenhagen-based multi-day cultural/music festival leveraging distributed venues across the city. Comparable in the multi-venue, partner-driven urban festival model targeting cultural audiences in the same geography.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/Festival.GoldenDays
• Instagraminstagram.com/golden.days

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about golden days