News Channel 3-12 | July 17, 2025
Addie Madrid as 2025 Solvang Danish Days Maid
{Photo Credit: Mike Mesikep}
Addie Madrid Announced as 2025 Danish Maid, Presiding Over Solvang’s Danish Culture and Heritage Festival
Below is a press release from the Solvang Danish Days Foundation regarding 2025 Solvang Danish Maid, Addie Madrid
SOLVANG, Calif. – The non-profit Solvang Danish Days Foundation has officially announced the festival’s 2025 Danish Maid, Addie Madrid, who is set to preside over this year’s 88th Solvang Danish Days (www.SolvangDanishDays.org). The newest Danish Maid will fulfill her “royal” duties during this year’s event weekend – Friday through Sunday, September 19 through 21, 2025 – as she becomes the fourth woman in her family to hold the title of Solvang Danish Days Maid.
Solvang Danish Days has grown and evolved since its humble beginnings in 1936, when a one-day celebration commemorating the 25th anniversary of Solvang’s 1911 founding was first conceived. Danish Days is now a weekend-long festival showcasing the Danish-settled village’s heritage and history. The annual event, which honors the town’s Danish roots, includes authentic food, music, dancing, parades, live entertainment, and family activities. The 2025 Solvang Danish Days theme – “Be Happy – Vær Glæde!” – will be celebrated during this year’s September event weekend.
Serving as the 2025 Danish Maid, Addie follows the regal, third-generation path of her grandmother, Glenda Jaeger Madrid, Danish Maid in 1971; her mother, Ashlee Madrid, Danish Maid in 1999; and her sister, Aleena Madrid, Danish Maid in 2022.
“This [year’s Danish Days] feels especially meaningful. I am proud to serve as 2025 Danish Maid and even prouder to be part of a three-generation legacy in my family. To now step into my family members’ Danish Maid shoes and represent the same tradition that has shaped our family and this valley, is a dream come true. It connects me not only to my heritage but to the heart and history of this place I’ve always called home,” said Addie Madrid, 2025 Solvang Danish Days Maid.
Addie was born and raised in the Santa Ynez Valley, but her roots reach across the seas to Denmark. Her mother, Ashlee, is of mixed background, including Danish ancestry, and her grandmother, Glenda, traces her Denmark ties to her Danish-born parents, Marie and Johannes Jaeger.
Addie mused, “Our family’s story feels like something out of a treasured fairy tale.”
Addie’s great-great-grandfather, Viggo Tarnow, came to the United States from Copenhagen in 1914. He settled in Minnesota where he met and married Cora, later moving his family, including their daughter, Marie, to California. Tarnow taught at Solvang’s Atterdag Folk School and helped to shape what is now the Atterdag Village of Solvang senior care center. His love for the Santa Ynez Valley ran deep, and through his dedication, Addie’s family became woven into the very fabric of Solvang.
Addie’s great-grandfather, Johannes Jaeger, came from Tindbæk, Denmark, in 1948, with hope in his heart and carpentry tools in his hands. In Solvang, he met and married Marie Tarnow, and together they built not just homes but a life of service and commitment to the community. Johannes became a partner in the Madsen & Jaeger Contracting Firm, and many of the Solvang structures that he helped build, still stand today – such as the large windmill on Alisal Road and the Solvang Brewing Company windmill on Mission Drive. Alongside Marie, he gave back to the community through volunteer work at Atterdag College, Bethania Lutheran Church, the Elverhøj Museum of History & Art, and more.
“My ancestors’ story reminds me that building a life is not only about what you create, but who you uplift along the way,” Addie remarked.
The 2025 Danish Maid reflected, “My own memories of Danish Days have always carried that same sense of purpose and joy. For five generations, my family has helped bring this celebration to life, through folk dancing, baking, crafting open-faced sandwiches, and volunteering at the festival workers’ Danish luncheon from 1994 to 2014. I remember being a little kid in the kitchen, buttering trays of bread, stacking sandwiches, and peeking out the back door to catch a glimpse of the Carlsberg horses pulling their grand wagon through town.”
As Addie grew she would become more involved in the Danish Days “duties,” helping to serve coffee and jam at the aebleskiver breakfast tents, marching in the Saturday parade alongside her sister, and proudly leading the Children’s Parade.
Addie continued, “Every Danish Days weekend has felt like a blend of the past and present, honoring history while creating new memories.”
Over the years, Addie’s grandmother, Glenda Jaeger Madrid, has created many hand-sewn dresses for her, for her sister, Aleena, and for Addie’s mother, with Addie’s 2025 Danish Maid dress being the most recent. Addie and her grandmother worked together to create her new Danish Maid dress, based on a blue and yellow-gold color scheme because Addie felt that they were “light and bright,” and reminded her of her two favorite things, the ocean and sunshine.
The design of Addie’s Danish Maid dress is rooted in the traditional costume from Hedebo, Denmark, the region in which her great-grandfather, Johannes Jaeger, was raised. Addie’s great-grandmother, Marie Jaeger, made the lace used for the ruffle on Addie’s sleeves, and her great-great grandmother, Marie’s mother, made the crocheted trim on the dress’ apron.
Seventeen-year-old Addie is heading into her senior year at Santa Ynez High School. She plays varsity volleyball and beach volleyball, and is involved in the Pickleball Club and the AP Art Club. Addie added, “I also serve as a youth leader at Valley Christian Fellowship, which means a great deal to me.”
After graduation, Addie plans to attend San Diego State University to major in psychology and business, with the dream of one day returning to the Santa Ynez Valley to run a business of her own. “If there’s anything my family’s story has taught me, it’s that coming home and giving back is part of who we are.”
Addie concluded, “Velkommen to Danish Days 2025! I’m so excited that we get to gather once again to celebrate our heritage, our stories, and everything that makes Solvang feel like home, for locals and for visitors. Whether you’re here for the buttered rye bread, the parades, or simply the feeling of community, I hope this weekend reminds you – just like it reminds me – of where we come from and why we keep returning.”
More information about Solvang Danish Days, including a brief history of the event, updated 2025 schedule and details, parade applications and contact information, is or will be available at www.SolvangDanishDays.org. Solvang Danish Days is also on Facebook and Instagram at facebook.com/SolvangDanishDays and @DanishDays.
Read the original press release posting, here: keyt.com/news-releases/2025/07/17/addie-madrid-announced-as-2025-danish-maid-presiding-over-solvangs-danish-culture-and-heritage-festival
