You don’t need a passport to spend Christmas in Denmark this year. You need a full tank of gas and a weekend in Solvang, a little Danish village about 46 miles northwest of Santa Barbara.
From November 27 through January 3, the whole town leans all the way into Julefest, its Danish-style Christmas celebration. Think a nightly light and music show, a parade, mischievous elves hiding all over town, and bakeries turning out Danish pastries by the trayful.
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A Danish village that started as a land deal
Solvang means “sunny field” in Danish, and the name fits the rolling Santa Ynez Valley around it. Danish Americans founded the town in 1911 after buying close to 9,000 acres of the old Rancho San Carlos de Jonata land grant…