Horsens is a mid-sized town on the east coast of Jutland, sitting at the head of a long fjord that opens into the Kattegat. It is best known today as a live music destination — major acts including Madonna, the Rolling Stones, and Paul McCartney have played here — and as the host of one of northern Europe's largest medieval festivals. Outside event weekends it is a quiet, well-preserved Danish town with a compact historic centre, easy access to the fjord, and the surrounding countryside of the East Jutland hills.
The town's most distinctive venue is Horsens State Prison, a massive 19th-century fortress in the town centre that operated as a prison until 2006 and now serves as a concert hall, event space, and crime museum. It is one of the more unusual cultural venues in Scandinavia. Horsens is also the birthplace of Vitus Bering — the 18th-century explorer who named the Bering Strait and Bering Sea — and the Vitus Bering Museum commemorates his life and voyages.
The European Medieval Festival, held in late August, transforms the prison grounds and town centre into a recreation of a medieval market, with jousting, falconry, craftspeople, and around 1,500 costumed participants. It draws tens of thousands of visitors and is one of the best-attended festivals of its kind in Europe. The Horsens Industrial Museum and Bygholm Manor round out the main attractions.