Danish Culture Minister Zenia Stampe has named the country’s folk high schools and Fanø’s folk dance, folk music and traditional dress as Denmark’s next two candidates for UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage.
The minister has picked the two traditions as Denmark’s coming nominations, DR reports. The list already includes entries such as pizza baking and reggae music from other countries.
Per DR, Stampe said she hopes the folk high schools can inspire the rest of the world. She added that she hopes the traditions from Fanø will above all inspire the rest of Denmark.
According to the culture minister, the folk high schools were chosen because they have made young people into more complete human beings since the 1800s. The traditions on Fanø, an island in the Wadden Sea National Park, are described as a source of local pride.
As reported by DR, the Fanø traditions bind the past and the present together. Islanders still play the music, dance the dances and wear the costumes at festive occasions. One of the Fanø dresses was worn at Crown Prince Christian’s 18th birthday.
If either candidate is accepted, it would be the first time a purely Danish piece of cultural heritage reaches the UNESCO list. Denmark can submit its next applications to UNESCO in 2027 and 2029.
Handball left out
In 2025, the then culture minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt of the Moderates held a public vote on which Danish candidates should be put forward. DR notes that the folk high schools won that vote, ahead of hot dog stands and handball.
The Fanø traditions were not on the ballot in the 2025 vote. Stampe said handball is a living culture that is not at risk of dying out, according to DR.
The minister added that many people are not aware that their own region also has old dances and costumes. She said she hopes the tradition from Fanø can serve as a reminder of that.
Stampe represents the Social Liberal Party, listed in Danish as Radikale Venstre. Her predecessor Engel-Schmidt held the culture portfolio for the Moderates.
UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage covers living practices rather than buildings or landscapes. Denmark’s folk high schools are residential schools without exams, a model dating back to the 19th century, as described by the ministry’s reasoning cited by DR.
