The wind and rain didn’t stop more than 200 people from celebrating New Year’s Eve in Solvang on Wednesday afternoon — Danish style.
The little Danish town rang in 2026 at 3 p.m. Wednesday, the same time Denmark entered the new year, celebrating with live music and dancing in Solvang Park.
It was the second year that Solvang hosted the Copenhagen Countdown. Organizers decided to carry on with the celebration despite the light rain. However, they did have to cancel the beer, wine and food that they had planned for the event.
“It’s exciting,” said Candice Libera, Solvang’s marketing and events coordinator. “We’re creating a tradition here with our Copenhagen Countdown. It’s a nice event because families can come with their kids during the day and then go to their adult one at night.”
The countdown event, which had live music from The Molly Ringwald Project from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., was one of the city’s final events for Julefest, a monthlong Danish-style holiday celebration.
“Obviously, there was a little bit of weather on Christmas Day and Christmas Eve, but even with that, it’s still been a fabulous season,” Libera said. “It’s just so fun to see visitors and our community out enjoying all the festivities.”
Angelica Obiedzinski and Robert Kromberg from Ventura decided to spend New Year’s in Solvang and were excited to enjoy two new year countdowns.
“We’ve experienced nothing like it,” Obiedzinski said. “We love it. We love the festivities that they got going on, the decorations, everyone’s crowded around. It’s beautiful.”
While Kromberg said he wished the event had some food and drinks, he was still having a good time.
“It’s so unique, it’s so special, and everyone here looks like they’re having a good time,” Kromberg said. “We’re all together enjoying this band.”
The Molly Ringwald Project got attendees to dance on the grass as they played popular 1980s and 1990s songs such as “Material Girl” by Madonna, “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears and “Jessie’s Girl” by Rick Springfield.
While there were some technical difficulties that delayed the countdown by a few seconds, the crowd came together and counted down from 10 to celebrate the start of a new year.
Matthew Lamb attended the countdown with his wife and three children while they were visiting Solvang from Phoenix.
“It’s just one of the few New Year’s Eve events that was happening, and the fact that it’s 3 o’clock for the ball drop makes it so much better for our family,” Lamb said. “It’s just awesome that we don’t have to stay up till midnight for our kids.”
While they now live in Phoenix, Lamb said he used to live in Santa Barbara and was enjoying showing his kids around Solvang. After the countdown, they planned to explore more shops and get some aebleskivers.
The final Julefest celebration will be the Solvang Christmas Tree Burn set for 5 p.m. Jan. 9, weather permitting.
