At Midsummer, many Swedes begin their five-week (or so) annual holidays: Midsummer Eve is usually celebrated in the countryside, which means that on the day before the cities shut down and look spookily deserted. Midsummer is normally an occasion of large gatherings, and many Swedes take advantage of it to fulfil their social obligations: whole families gather to celebrate this traditional high-point of the summer. To the delight of the children (and some of the adults), the maypole is raised in an open spot and traditional ring-dances ensue. Midsummer Eve is always a Friday between 19 and 25 June: people often begin the day by picking flowers and making wreaths to be placed on the maypole, a key component in the celebrations. A typical Midsummer menu features pickled herrings, boiled new potatoes with fresh dill, soured cream and chives, often followed by a grilled dish of some kind, such as spare rib or salmon, and for dessert the first strawberries of summer, with cream. Traditional drinks are cold beer and schnapps, preferably spiced: every time the glasses are refilled, singing breaks out anew. Midsummer brings about a certain nostalgia: deep inside, the Swedes all agree on what it should look like and how it should proceed.
After dinner, many people want to go out dancing, just like in the old days, preferably on an outdoor dance floor. Legend has it that the night before Midsummer’s Day is a magical time for love: in a way, during a night under the influence of alcohol, many relationships are put to the test, leading both to marriage and to divorce. Like Whitsun, Midsummer is a popular time of year for weddings and christening ceremonies: despite being poor churchgoers in general, some Swedes still like to wed in a country church with a flower-bedecked, arched entrance and beautiful hymns.
The origins of Swedish Midsummer
In agrarian times, Midsummer celebrations in Sweden were held to welcome summertime and the season of fertility. In some areas people dressed up as ‘green men’, clad in ferns, and they also decorated their houses and farm tools with foliage, and raised tall, leafy maypoles to dance around, probably as early as the 1500s. Midsummer was primarily an occasion for young people, but it was also celebrated in the industrial communities of central Sweden, where all mill employees were given a feast of pickled herring, beer and schnapps. It was not until the 1900s, however, that this became the most Swedish of all traditional festivities.
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