Autumn holiday with fairy tales, a flashlight hunt and Aftenlunden

When the autumn holiday comes to Bornholm, Sommerlunden in Nexø reopens for a week of creative activities, campfires and fairy tales. From October 10–17, there are activities for children and adults every day—and a final chance to see this year’s large sand sculptures before the season ends.

This year’s theme is the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen, interpreted in large-scale works by international sand sculptors. Around the garden, visitors will encounter scenes from The Little Mermaid, The Ugly Duckling, The Little Match Girl, Thumbelina and other familiar stories.

During the autumn holiday, children can go on a treasure hunt, solve riddles, carve pumpkins and join both a creative autumn workshop and a woodcarving workshop.

On Monday, Josephine Graff Vallant invites visitors to a wooden-spoon carving workshop, where they can try carving their own spoon. She is known for her artistic, hand-carved wooden spoons that play with the spoon’s traditional shape.

By the fire, there is free bread on a stick and marshmallows. The Drivhuscaféen café also switches to an autumn menu with hot soup, crisp toast, autumn cakes, hot apple juice, hot cocoa and Irish coffee.

After dark

On Tuesday and Thursday, the day continues with Aftenlunden, open until 8 pm. As daylight fades, colorful lights illuminate the sand sculptures, giving Hans Christian Andersen’s characters a different appearance in the dark.

The Tropical House also takes on a new atmosphere. In the darkened house, visitors can join a flashlight hunt for Sigurd the bat, hidden somewhere among the dense plants. Outside, the fire keeps burning as darkness falls over the garden.

Butterfly season is over, so there will be no free-flying butterflies in the Tropical House during the autumn holiday. The house remains open to explore during the day and hosts the flashlight hunt in the evening.

Sommerlunden is open every day from October 10–17, 10 am–5 pm, and until 8 pm on Tuesday and Thursday for Aftenlunden.

Sommerlunden, Gl. Rønnevej 14B, Nexø.