In my family, we bring birch branches indoors (and usually have a Saturday cleaning before). But it turns out most young people my age have not been a part of that tradition any more. In my family it is not seen as a Christian thing, it is seen more as a local old folklore thing (and has actually became a mix of both, like they all are).
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Pentecost in Denmark is usually marked with the erection of the [Maypole](https://cdn.oestjylland.bazo.dk/images/30fe58ca-58a2-4e4f-bf48-f92632960c2b/s/2048), and the dancing around it. And “erection” is the exactly right word, _because_, it is a large phallic symbol, representing fertility.
While the tradition—which is shared across a lot of Europe—likely has deep pre-Christian roots—and only is celebrated at Pentecost in Denmark AFAIK—in Denmark, it is thoroughly Christianised. Unlike the Swedes, who have a weird song and dance about… frogs? rabbits? some jumping animal, in Denmark, it is traditional to sing psalms when dancing around the phallus. Popular pentecostal (?) psalms are [_O Kristelighed_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8r6-Z4yg5s)('Oh, Christian Faith’), [_Det dufter lysegrønt af græs_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmMK-RswoYI)('There is a light-green smell of grass’), [_Du som går ud fra den levende Gud_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUJDJMaXSws)('You Who Came From the Living God’) and [_I alt sin glans nu stråler solen_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaNvxm7_wn4)('In All its Glory, Now the Sun is Shining’).
Often the Service will be moved to the raising of the pole, or precede it, and the congregation will together do the raising.
The tradition is however dying. Generally younger people—such as myself—don’t take interest in it. We cannot identify ourselves with a large agrarian, deeply religious tradition.
There is a [Whitsun celebration](http://www.whaddon.org/whitsun) tomorrow near where I live. It involves a lot of Morris dancing, music and so on, and I guess is the closest thing to people wearing ‘folk costumes’ that you can really get to in England (we don’t have much of a ‘folk costume’ culture, unlike other countries).
However, as it’s the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee at the moment this year’s celebration will be smaller than in past years.
In my experience it’s one of those holidays that has the least impact on anything or anyone (at least in Eastern Finland) and it honestly doesn’t show in any way, it’s just a regular Sunday for the vast vast majority. Because it’s always on a Sunday it doesn’t even give an extra day off for most people.
Funnily, though, it’s supposed to be the third most important holiday in the evangelical lutheran church, after Christmas and Easter.
There’s a saying that’s sometimes still used and most people have heard it, “Jos ei heilaa helluntaina niin ei koko kesänä”. (If you don’t have a date on whit sunday, you won’t have one the entire summer)
Yes, on monday we have tweede pinksterdag, second pentecost day. As is tradition, most furniture shops, kitchen shops and bathroom shops in the Netherlands are open. This means many families go to these shops to look for new furniture, new kitchens, new bathrooms etc.
This is likely because the extra holiday pay (about 8% of your yearly pay before tax) is normally paid out in May. This means people have some extra cash on top of their savings they can use for large purchases.