Aarhus is the first city to light up its Christmas decorations this year, sparking a division of opinion.

The Danish city of Aarhus lit up its Christmas decorations this year on the pedestrian street using thousands of lights. Despite the energy crisis, the city lit up tens of thousands of LED lights and the view looked like a starry sky above the pedestrian street in Aarhus on Friday evening. The lights will be turned on as part of the Christmas tradition for the next 43 days on the pedestrian street. In the city of Odense, the Christmas decorations will be lit up a week later than usual, while Copenhagen will light up the decorations two weeks later.

This year's Christmas was preceded by a wide-ranging debate about whether so many lights should be switched on during an energy crisis, so many also chose not to follow this tradition.
Such as the upscale Dangletree Hotel in central Copenhagen and the Salling in Aalborg and Aarhus.

The decision to light up the Christmas decorations in Aarhus was made in consultation with 82 shops on the pedestrian street. Klaus Borberg, chairman of the Gadeforeningen Strøget association, told TV2: “We agreed that the city was dark enough, so we, the merchants, shouldn’t be the ones to extinguish the last hope for a happy and bright Christmas.” However, the Christmas decorations in Aarhus will be lit for fewer hours than usual, and the lighting bill will be around 35,000 Danish kroner, which means a cost of 10-11 øre per person, according to Klaus Borberg.