We warmly welcome you and your family to Borris

(Alt med blå kursiv skrift skal erstattes af jeres egne oplysninger)

 

In Ringkøbing-Skjern Municipality, there are many active villages in rural and peaceful surroundings. We hope that with this brochure, we can make you and your family take part in our active community. The brochure should give you an impression of your local area Borris Sogn We have many associations and many different activities that you can take part in, if you want. On the website www.borris.dk you can read much more about the area and the associations. We hope that you will feel welcome and be comfortable in Borris

 

Welcome! 

Best regards, Residents, day-care centers, and associations in Borris parish.

The Area

In your area there are many activities, sights and nature experiences that you can explore with friends and family. We live in a rural setting, and most of us like to know each other and we want to be helpful. The sports ground/center is the basis of many common arrangements. For our families with children, day-care center and school is a central focus. In Denmark we have a long tradition of spending our spare time in associations. Here we meet and do sports or we are together about other interests such as cookery, reading and fishing. In this brochure you can find the associations you can join. Of course, you can ask the welcome group what is happening in the various associations. Many people are spending a lot of spare hours working voluntarily without any payment in order to make these activities possible in our community and also your voluntary assistance will be highly appreciated. It is in these associations that we meet with friends and associate with other people. Therefore, many social events are about socializing. It may be, for example, the annual sports festival, which is more of a village festival, where everybody is welcome, also people who don’t go in for sport.

In some villages an annual party with a theater-play or revue-theatre is held. There is a period of rehearsal before the performance. You can join the theater-play if you like theater and acting or to sing. The performance is with dining and a local party for the community.

The children can be taken care of at the day-care centre Børnehuset. Contact information and more information is available on the website: https://www.mininstitution.dk/Hjemmeside/Forside/Index/285/  School children can attend Borris Kommuneskole Contact information and other information is available on the web-site: https://borris-skole.skoleporten.dk/sp  If you or your children are interested in sports there are many possibilities. You may contact the sports clubs and ask for details: Foreningernes navn og kontaktoplysninger.Borris Gymnastik og ungdomsforeninger Borris Idrætsforening……. On Borris.dk you can find much more information about other possibilities and activities here in Borris.

Recurring events that are open to everybody

There are many activities, in addition to the sports festival, that are recurring

events, where everybody meets and has a pleasant time. At these events, we also hope to see you and your family. Below you find the most common occasions in West Jutland on which to invite to a party. However, there are many other festivities, where you as a citizen, are welcome to participate, even if you don’t know anybody yet.

 Fastelavn (Shrovetide) is held in February.

In former times, Fastelavn was an event, where adults could dress up, wear masks and celebrate. Masks and outfits deleted for a time the social differences in society. The farmer could sit at the same table as the count. From the year 1536 and until the end of the 19th century there was also a custom of tilting at a barrel. In fact, a living black cat was put into a barrel, on which you knocked until the bottom fell out. The reason why they did so was that people were convinced that black cats were connected with the devil and a symbol of evil. When you literally hit the cat from the barrel, you did it in an attempt to expel the evil.

Today Fastelavn is the children’s party. The children dress up and eat buns and the adults are enjoying themselves. Today, the children also beat the cat off the barrel, but it is in order to find a “cat king” and a “cat queen” and the barrel is today filled with candy – not a cat. The children also go from house to house singing Fastelavn songs. They hope to be rewarded with candy or money. Fastelavn is an event that especially children love and look forward to. I Borris the event takes place in hallen.

In March, gymnastics shows are held

Gymnastics is an important sport in West Jutland, in which many children and young people participate. It is an old tradition where also adults were engaged

as children. In Ringkøbing-Skjern Municipality there are several continuation schools where gymnastics is a very important activity. Every year all gymnastics teams, ranging from the very young children to the skilled continuation school teams, meet to show what they have learnt during the winter. Such shows take most of a day starting with an entry and singing of the national anthem. I Borris, the event takes place in hallen.

1st May, International Workers’ Dayknown as Labour Day

The date (1 May) was chosen as international demonstration day. In Denmark it is still celebrated early in the morning in many trade unions and in the political parties Socialdemokraterne, SF and Enhedslisten. In the afternoon political speeches are held in many major Danish towns.

5th June, events take place on Grundlovsdag

Events on Grundlovsdag are an annual recurring celebration of the introduction of the first Danish constitution on 5th June 1849. Every year, the day is celebrated with political speeches around the country, as the day is often also seen as a celebration of Danish democracy.

In some companies these two days are celebrated.

23th June, there is Sankthans (Midsummer Eve)

No doubt, Sankthans or Midsummer Eve has been the most important midsummer celebration in the North with games, dancing and drinking.

      

   

In earlier times, people believed that Midsummer Night was full of magical forces of nature – both evil and good. All herbs and springs were particularly sacred, and it was traditional to go to sacred springs or to pick healing herbs on this evening. Round midsummer time the magical healing power of many sacred springs were considered the strongest, and therefore many people went to them during the period from Sankthans to Frue Dag, July 2nd (midpoint of a common year).

      

   

Since the early 1900s it has been traditional to place a figure similar to a witch on a bonfire. According to tradition, witches fly to Bloksbjerg in the Harz on Midsummer Eve and Night. Some believe that both bonfire and witch are a new tradition, derived from German artisans. Witch-burning has, however, taken place in Denmark, but that has nothing to do with the traditional midsummer rituals, although the peasants who made bonfires on this evening did believe in witches. The purpose of the bonfire was to scare witches and evil spirits away, rather than to burn them off.

Today Midsummer Eve is celebrated by a bonfire arrangement with the burning of a witch figure, where everyone is welcome. A local person is often giving a speech and there will be songs like “Midsommersangen” and “Danmark nu blunder den lyse nat”. At this event you can often buy sausages and there might be a small bonfire, where the children can make hot bread.I Borris, the event takes place at the……….

 

Harvest Festival in SeptemberIn the old days, the harvest festival marked that the harvest was in and that winter supplies were thus ensured. It was hard work to harvest the many fields by hand, and even though a few small parties were held during the harvest period, the big harvest festival took place when all the work had been finished and everybody was looking forward to this event. Here the good home-brewed beer and substantial party food was served. The room – often the barn - was decorated with sheaves and flowers and often there was music and dancing all night.

Today, the harvest festival is different, as not so many people are taking part in the harvesting anymore. Now local communities often join together to have a harvest festival in order to mark that harvest and fellow-feeling is still important.

Today, the harvest festival is not only a tribute to labour, but just as much a highlight of summer and fellowship. The harvest festival has spread from farms in rural areas to urban communities, where people are not employed in agriculture.I Borris, the event takes place in hallen.

Christmas Markets/Christmas Concerts/Christmas Partiesin November and December

In the months of November and December there are Christmas markets, Christmas concerts and Christmas Events. Homemade Christmas decorations and other locally produced items can be bought. You can also buy gløgg (mulled wine containing raisins and almonds) and æbleskiver (cakes of batter cooked over the fire in a special kind of pan, which is a Danish delicacy). Æbleskiver you eat warm, normally with icing sugar and jam.I Borris these events take place at Erhvervsskolen Vestjylland and……..

Sights and Natural Surroundings

Much is going on in your area and there are many sights and beautiful nature that you can explore with friends and family. Below you find a number of links to websites that can be translated into English and German. Google toolbar and google translate can help you translate Danish websites into your favorite language.

https://www.rksk.dk/ (Ringkøbing-Skjern Kommunes hjemmeside)https://www.rksk.dk/om-kommunen/turist-i-kommunenhttp://velkomstpakke.rksk.dk/velkomstpakkewww.hvidesande.dkwww.flytmodvest.dkhttp://eng.naturstyrelsen.dk/http://www.levendehistorie.dk/Deutche_resume (Ringkøbing-Skjern Museum)

Thrift shops are cheap and popular

Here you will find cheap reusable clothes and shoes for children and adults, bags, crockery, service, kitchenware, tablecloths, linen, books and toys. Some thrift shops also have space enough to sell second-hand furniture such as beds, chests of drawers, sofas, tables, shelves, lamps and paintings. Thrift shops often have names like:

Blå Kors GenbrugsbutikRøde Kors GenbrugsbutikDanmissions GenbrugsbutikY’s Mens Clubs GenbrugsbutikRed Barnets GenbrugsbutikKirkens KorshærFolkekirkens nødhjælp genbrugsbutik When you shop here, you support organizations’ work with the poor and vulnerable around the world.  

Municipal service

As a citizen in Ringkøbing-Skjern Municipality you can get a lot of help on the municipality's website www.rksk.dk. Here you can find a lot of information about childcare, housing and work opportunities. There is a section on the website that addresses to foreign newcomers. You can choose to view the website in English or German by clicking on the flag. You can also use the following link or search for "foreigners" and "move to the west".

https://www.rksk.dk/borger/udlaendinge-i-kommunen

In addition to the municipality's language teaching, the following website is available, where Danish can be learnt http://laerdansk.dk/kurser/netdansk

Ringkøbing-Skjern Municipality wants to help with job chances and jobs can be searched on the following websites.

https://www.rksk.dk/borger/udlaendinge-i-kommunenhttps://www.workindenmark.dk/http://www.flytmodvest.dk

Once again, most welcome, we hope you and your family will be happy to live here.