Rasmus Weng KarlsenAfter releasing 3 (The Purple Album) with his band, Lukas Graham tells ABC Radio that he’ll be spending Christmas in his native Denmark with his family…and nearly 2,000 people who are less fortunate.
Lukas, his fiancee and their young daughter Viola are heading back to Copenhagen because, he tells ABC Radio, “My family’s huge, her family’s huge and my grandmother will be turning 91! And so I said, ‘I’m having Christmas with my Granny until she’s no longer with us.’ Because I think she appreciates Christmas more than most of us.”
But for Lukas, Christmas Eve is all about helping the less fortunate. He’s been volunteering for years at an event in his community of Christiania called “Christmas for the Christmasless,” which provides food on Christmas Eve to those who don’t have anywhere else to go.
“It’s basically in a big hall…we make Christmas food for around 1,800 people…it’ll be my 16th year this year,” the “Love Someone” singer tells ABC Radio. “There’s a children’s corner with gifts for the kids, there’s a stage, live music, [and] everyone gets a nice Christmas dinner.”
As for what’s served at Christmas dinner at Denmark, well, surprisingly, the dessert course does not feature danishes.
Instead, Lukas explains, “We have rice pudding with whipped cream in it and almonds. There’s only one whole almond in it; all the others are cracked.”
“So if you get the whole almond, you need to hold it…and have everyone else eat load and loads of rice pudding,” he laughs. “And then at the end, be like, ‘I got it!’ And then you get a little marzipan pig and a present.”
Lukas Graham will kick off a tour in support of The Purple Album February 22 in Portland, Oregon.
Copyright © 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.