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Photo: Lukas Jasiūnas
Danish (counter)
cultural center with
vegan overtones
MARCH 1, 2016 BY LUKAS JASIŪNAS
We’re
back in
Denmark
and o� to
a place
where
the
urban
youth
Nikolaj shared
the recipe for the
Daisy sandwich
spread:
500 g of sun�ower
seeds
1 jar of sun-dried
tomatoes (220ish
g)
A little more olive
oil than you feel
comfortable
adding
Salt, pepper, and
spices of choice
(1000Fryd sta�
recommend
rosemary, paprika
and fresh parsley)
Bring some water to
boil. Add the
sun�ower seeds
and cook for 4-5
minutes. Drain.
Blend everything
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Danish (counter) cultural center with vegan ove... https://thepositiveanimal.com/danish-counter-cu...
1 of 10 11/03/16 10:19

movement is deeply intertwined with veganism.
Welcome to 1000Fryd, a volunteer-driven community
center located in the northern city of Aalborg and
featured prominently in Nordkraft, Jakob Ejersbo’s
bestselling novel about the underground culture and
disa�ected youth of the 80s and 90s. Tusindfryd, the
Danish word for “daisy,” which happens to be the
national �ower, literally means a thousand joys. And in
this den of counterculture, it’s all about the joys of live
alt-rock, indie movies, quiz nights, ping pong, booze,
co�ee and vegan food.
Our guide
Nikolaj Legaard, 25,
production/booking manager
and cultural advocate at
1000Fryd. Experience aboard
the Daisy: 4 years. Spends
most of his free time at
1000Fryd. No stranger to video
games, cooking and concert
going. Favorite vegan food:
“Bananas, because they make awesome ice cream
and they’re great in baked goods!” We agree.
Nikolaj’s love a�air with the Daisy began while he was
studying Humanistic Informatics at university and
wrote a paper on the iconic center. In the process, he
spent a lot of time in what was to become his favorite
haunt and turned into an expert on the subject. That’s
also when he started getting involved with concert
organization and helping to build the international
community 1000Fryd has become.
The center, its history and in�uences
The Daisy hosted her 32 birthday party in February,
and add spices.
nd
2 of 10 11/03/16 10:19

Photos: left, Lukas Jasiūnas; right, 1000Fryd
with performers such as Girls Names from Ireland,
Gooms from Denmark and the Decibelles from France.
This 32-year-old center sure has grown; today it
successfully manages a small café, a bar with a stage,
a recording studio, a movie theater and an art gallery,
organizing and delivering high-quality cultural events
at a�ordable prices.
How di�erent from its chaotic beginnings in 1974,
when Aalborg University opened its doors, and the
city council, in an e�ort to match initiatives of other
university cities, granted Aalborg’s youth free reins to
manage the newly built cultural center. Called Huset
(The House), this center still exists and is o�cially
managed by the municipality—but it’s a far cry from
the original vision. That’s because the mayor quickly
changed his mind and yanked the reins of control
back, handing them over to city administrators. In
response, center users and artists created Association
1000Fryd and brie�y occupied the premises before
being evicted. The newly formed association,
supporting the cause of a user-managed cultural
center, raised money and acquired facilities of its own
in the center of Old Town.
In the early 1980s, Association 1000Fryd was mostly
run by various collectives from Aalborg, which used
the youth-run Daisy center primarily for communal
3 of 10 11/03/16 10:19

Photos: left, 1000Fryd; right, Lukas Jasiūnas
Photos: left, GicaLabe; right, 1000Fryd
eating and tea drinking. Convivial as they were, those
activities did not pay for the mortgage, and the
association decided to invest in spi�ng up the café
and hosting concerts to bring in more revenue.
Over time, the place has developed its own organic
eclectic vibe, with punk and DIY ideologies leaving a
signi�cant mark in the 90s and 00s. Although the punk
spectrum comprises many political ideologies, the
wave that hit 1000Fryd was de�nitely left of center and
favoring veganism, environmentalism and
anti-consumerism. Today, this anti-establishment,
non-sexist, non-racist sensibility associated with this
brand of punk lingers on at the Daisy.
Age
segregation is also absent from the Daisy, and free
spirits from previous generations still drop by to enjoy
some events. Although reaching the older music
a�cionados can sometimes be challenging, 1000Fryd
4 of 10 11/03/16 10:19

has had some success, and boasts a strong showing
of 40+ folks when Rock & Roll old-timers are playing
—whereas the electronic events attract kids in their
early 20s.
This idiosyncratic musical and generational mix is
further enriched by the in�uence of foreign cultures,
as most volunteers at 1000Fryd are international
students encouraged by “management” to set the
tone for the place. Add to this melting pot an injection
over the past three years of new talent from various
professional �elds into the board of directors and
booking team, and you get the Thousand Joys of
today.
“It’s taken 1000Fryd 32 years to arrive at where we are
now, and it hasn’t been easy all the way… But people
have had some of the most fun times of their lives
keeping this place going,” says Nikolaj. For anyone
considering starting a similar cultural center, Nikolaj
says while fun is important, consistency and hard work
are the take-home message.
Who’s steering the ship?
Nikolaj
tells me
the team
consists
of 25
volunteers, three employees, four booking managers,
eight movie house managers, a ten-member
production crew (coordinators, sound technicians, etc.)
5 of 10 11/03/16 10:19

Photo: Simon Q. Aalborg Old City Hall
and �ve board members. With role overlaps, this adds
up to about 30-35 individuals actively working for the
organization. But where does the money come from?
To
supplement café, bar and concert hall income,
1000Fryd receives support from The Danish Arts
Association and the Aalborg municipality. It’s not easy
depending on public funding, because disbursement
is often subject to the willingness of elected o�cials to
open purse strings. It helps that a majority of locals are
on board with the organization’s cultural activities and
musical performances.
For business and �scal purposes, 1000Fryd is split into
three divisions, each subject to di�erent taxation and
funding rules: the cafe, the venue (concert stage) and
the association (art studio and rehearsal room).
Revenue from the bar goes primarily to building
maintenance. Grants support music events.
Programs and activities
I asked Nikolaj to tell me about their events, and it
turns out that 1000Fryd hosts two weekly live concerts
by local, national or international bands of various
styles. Grunge, metal, alt rock, soul, free jazz, garage
rock and indie pop bands are par for the course at the
venue. The association also o�ers one soup kitchen,
6 of 10 11/03/16 10:19

one
movie
matinee
and one
documentary evening per week. Less regularly, they
host club nights MC’d by local DJs.
Cultural events, especially modern- and alternative-
art-oriented ones, are unevenly attended. Some have
a niche audience; others are packed. Nikolaj grins as
he remembers: “We had a concert with four attendees
in the fall, but on Christmas day, we hosted a club
night with approximately 600 people.” The good news
is that there are always scores of young people ready
to volunteer, having fun in the process. Most events at
the club are hosted in English—Nikolaj estimates that
half their attendees are foreigners and half Danes,
most of whom speak near-�uent English.
The group does not shy away from collaborative event
hosting either. Occasionally they work with the
Aalborg University student center and other local
social/cultural venues. The marine museum, Aalborg’s
Om:form (a cultural center on a ship) and an
abandoned bank are among the more exotic
contributors providing unique settings for cultural
events.
Veganism
Where does veganism �t into this multicultural
smorgasbord? It surfaced during the punk explosion of
7 of 10 11/03/16 10:19

the 90s
and
began
replacing
the
vegetarian sensibilities that had prevailed until then.
Nikolaj explains that vegan ideology is trendy these
days in Denmark, and it has the added advantage of
raising awareness of global environmental issues, a
cause 1000Fryd has cared about since its inception.
Nikolaj admits he would like to see more vegans at the
events, but even nonvegans think veganism is cool
nowadays, so no one ever complains about the
plant-based goodies sold by 1000Fryd, and visiting
bands always enjoy the free food.
A year ago, German company 4K Vegan Catering
visited the venue to share their recipes and
experience, curate a documentary evening (showing
“Live and Let Live”) and engage in dialogue with the
environmentally conscious people of Aalborg.
1000Fryd has also organized successful vegan
lectures and cook-along workshops. Not to mention
their always packed vegan soup kitchen.
The soup
kitchen
has been
running
for more
than 12
years. It
started
8 of 10 11/03/16 10:19

Photo: 1000Fryd
Photo: 1000Fryd
as a
vegan
advocacy kitchen, and is now o�ering plant-based
dishes to the hungry for a mere DKK25 (just under $4)
and giving any pro�ts to refugee relief charities. A new
chef is in charge every time the kitchen opens, and
volunteers cook with creativity and energy. “Vegan
cooking is simply dirt cheap,” says Nikolaj, “which is
why 1000Fryd can o�er such inexpensive meals.” Also,
while local politicians don’t support vegan ideals,
suppliers have been helpful and done their best to
meet 1000Fryd’s vegan needs. A local bakery has
even agreed to bake vegan cakes for them.
Nikolaj explains that “it’s only special products like
vegan cheeses and charcuterie that are expensive in
Denmark because there is very little demand for
them.” These faux products can be bought less
expensively from Germany, but Nikolaj’s advice to
save money on food is to learn the many ways to
prepare vegetables, seeds, grains, spices and other
cheap ingredients. He also recommends an occasional
dumpster dive, because the way things are right now,
trashing food is often cheaper for supermarkets than
giving it away for social good.
Overall, it’s clear Aalborgians have embraced
1000Fryd as an important part of their community.
9 of 10 11/03/16 10:19

They’re asking for more events, and 1000Fryd
members are looking for ways to make that happen
while maintaining their focus on the core activities of
the soup kitchen and concerts.
© 2015 The Positive Animal. Powered by the Genesis framework
10 of 10 11/03/16 10:19

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