Fastelavn is a very Danish thing. Danes are by nature very childish and fastelavn is a great childish event where parents dress up their children and themselves as pirates, fairies, angels and batmen. Then they gather around a barrel with candy inside and hit it with a stick until it falls apart. Then they eat the candy. It couldn’t be more Danish.
In South East Asia, it has become the duty of the Danish Seamen’s Churches and other Danish churches abroad to be custodians of this cultural tradition. The only addon is a short service before the fun begins.
All around, the day picked for the celebration was Sunday 2 March 2025..
In Bangkok, the Fastelavn was celebrated at the residence of the Danish ambassador Danny Annan and it was the first Fastelavn of Paster Nicolaj Stubbe Hørlyck. The photos from this event were taken by Charlotte Christensen. Unfortunately, it is not mentioned who took the photos from the other events. But they all capture Danish Fastelavn spot-on.
In SIngapore, the event took place at the Danish Seamen’s Church with two barrels – one for the toddlers and one for the older kids. Hot dogs and fastelavns buns and candy for all.
In Manilla, there is no Danish Church so the local Danes just went straght to the party.
In Hong Kong, the Danish Seamen’s Church held it in their own premises. An added fun was that a professional facepainting artist had donated her time to help decorate the faces of all the children.
