This is the day the LORD has made;
let us rejoice in it and be glad.
I grew up in a town surrounded by dairy farms, so pastures full of cows were a daily sight. Past a certain age, dairy cows are not especially rambunctious creatures. But given a reason for joy, they can kick up their heels with the best of them.
As reported by NPR, on a Sunday each mid-April, Danes gather near 75 organic dairy farms for an unofficial national holiday — watching the cows let out after a long, confining winter into the green fields of springtime.
Cows, despite their tendency to lumber, become almost sprightly when treated to a change of scenery. They leap, they kick, they tussle, they bellow with joy. Danes, who’re also emerging from the long, dark winter, are nothing if not empathetic.
With children cheering from their parents’ shoulders, the first wave of cows come galloping into the sun. They shoot down a driveway lined with onlookers and go bouncing — literally — into the nearest field. As a Canadian cow expert told The Salt’s Maria Godoy in 2014, cows tend to get an extra spring or leap in their step “whenever something new or unexpected happens.”
In the pasture, the frolicking and playful head-butting continues for a good 20 minutes before the whole bovine party settles into munching. And the Danes wander off to the food tent to do the same.
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And, from The Blaze:
The event Sunday called “Dancing Cow Day” or “Organic Day” drew crowds of more than 270,000 people to the country’s many dairy farms. Denmark’s the Local newspaper reported that Danish Princess Mary and three of her children attended one event.
“It is fantastic that so many Danes come out year after year to share the experience of the dancing organic cows with the organic farmers,” Per Kolster, chairman of the national association of organic farmers, said, according to the Local. “It is incredibly contagious to feel the cows’ excitement to come out to the fields, and this gives Danes a chance to experience what kind of difference it makes when they buy organic milk.”
Here are a couple of videos capturing the moment:
Image: From the Facebook page of dairy cooperative Arla Danmark
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