Midsummer Festival
As Sweden.ru notes, the Swedish summer is short. It takes its first timid steps in May and gains strength in June. It needs to hurry, because in September the nights will become cold again. At Midsummer, the summer solstice, the Swedish summer is in its prime, with lush young greenery, bright colors, intoxicating aromas, and short light nights. In the north, the polar day begins, and the sun does not set at all.
Swedes like everything to be well organized. So many plan their annual five-week vacation right after Midsummer. This means that all work tasks must be finished before the holiday. And this holiday, like many others, is traditionally celebrated outside the city. People leave early for their summer cottages or the countryside; everything closes in the cities, and the streets are deserted.
But the main highways are packed. Traffic jams stretch for kilometers. Irritated Swedes console themselves with the thought that ahead of them await family, friends, and the holiday. Midsummer is an occasion to gather in a large company. Numerous relatives and friends converge: it's an excellent opportunity to fulfill social obligations, meet, chat to one's heart's content – and then calmly enjoy the vacation without any distractions.
Again, for everyone's convenience, Midsummer always falls on a Friday. Many start the day romantically, picking flowers and weaving wreaths to decorate the maypole, the main symbol of the holiday. The pole is erected in a meadow and dances are held around it, to the delight of children and some adults. Teenagers, on the other hand, look forward to the evening when more raucous fun begins.
The festive dinner menu invariably includes various types of pickled herring, boiled new potatoes with fresh dill, sour cream, and onions. After that, grilled hot dishes are served, such as ribs or salmon. The traditional dessert is fresh strawberries with whipped cream. The feast is not complete without cold beer and strong schnapps. Instead of toasts, there are short drinking songs. Swedes love them, singing in chorus, and the louder, the better.
Midsummer is often associated with a sense of nostalgia. Deep down, every Swede knows what this holiday should be like and how it should be properly celebrated. The holiday becomes proper, for example, as in the good old days, at an open-air dance floor by a lake or sea. And it would be nice if a light evening mist descended on it and the sounds of the orchestra echoed off the rocky shores – to make everything completely right.
On the way home from the celebration, girls must pick seven different flowers and put them under their pillow before going to sleep. Then their betrothed will surely appear to them in a dream.
According to legend, this night is a magical time of love. In a sense, it is. On the shortest night of the year, relationships are put to the test. Tipsy tongues blurt out the truth – from here it's not far to a wedding, or even a divorce. Like Pentecost, Midsummer is a popular time for weddings and baptisms. Although Swedes are not particularly religious, they still prefer to tie the knot in a flower-decorated church to the sound of psalms.
The Light of the Summer Night
The Midsummer festival was originally celebrated on June 24 in honor of John the Baptist. In 1953, it was moved to the nearest Saturday.
In the days when Sweden was an agricultural country, Midsummer celebrated the arrival of summer and the beginning of the fertile season. And it was celebrated differently in different provinces: people wrapped themselves in fern leaves and dressed as "green men," decorated houses and farm utensils with tree branches, erected poles entwined with leaves and flowers, and danced around them. This originally Germanic tradition of decorating poles has probably existed since the 16th century. Midsummer was also celebrated in the working-class settlements of central Sweden. On this day, all mill workers were treated to herring, beer, and moonshine. It was only in the 20th century that this holiday became the most beloved and the most Swedish of all Swedish holidays.
Since the 6th century AD, bonfires on the summer solstice were lit all over Europe. In Sweden, this was done mainly in the south of the country. Boys and girls went to healing springs, drank medicinal water, and spent time playing games and dancing. The custom recalled the baptism of Christ by John the Baptist in the Jordan River.
Midsummer night is the shortest and brightest of the year: there is no more magical time for fortune-telling and predictions. Some girls ate salty porridge ("dream porridge") before bed so that their betrothed would bring them water in a dream and help quench their thirst. Others went to springs and tried to discern the image of their fiancé on the water's surface.
On this magical night, people also went in search of treasure – the moonlight showed the way. Having finally found the coveted spot and starting to dig, the treasure hunter had to be prepared for the most unexpected sights: for example, under a haystack there might be a lame chicken. And how could one not laugh – but no, they tried not to laugh, because the real treasure could only be found by one who managed to remain silent.
And, of course, on this amazing night, water turned into wine, plants acquired healing properties, and the fern bloomed only once a year.