I don’t know about your country, but in France, we don’t really celebrate Midsummer.
In the past weeks, I’ve heard how important is that celebration for many Swedes, the second one after Christmas. So I planned a Midsummer like a Swede.
When is Midsummer?
This year Midsummer Eve was on Friday, 24 June. It’s always celebrated on a Friday between 19 and 25 June.
Why do you celebrate Midsummer?
Midsummer is a celebration of the summer solstice, the longest day of the year —and that’s worth celebrating!
It has been celebrated for a long time to welcome the summer and the fertility of the crops.
How does one celebrate Midsummer?
While some Swedes go to a summer cabin to celebrate in smaller groups, a lot of celebrations are organized on the outskirts of the cities.
My Midsummer
We started the day with one important event: making our own flower crowns. It might seem a bit complicated at the beginning but it soon becomes an enjoyable moment of twisting flowers and catching up with friends.
We then proceed to set the table for lunch. On the menu: gravad lax (salmon), potatoes, meatballs, smörgåstårta (a layered sandwich). We twisted the menu by making everything vegan (except the salmon) so that everyone around the table could enjoy the variety of dishes. Fermented herring was left out because the non-vegetarians were not big fans of it, and kimbap was added (big up to international tables)!
For drinks, we once again decided to mend the traditions and left the alcohol out, replacing it with sweet strawberry mojitos. Lunch was concluded with a strawberry cake.
Did I tell you that Swedes are obsessed with strawberries on Midsummer? They are the sign of summer and a huge staple on their tables. They were already out of stock at 9am.
After lunch, no time for a nap. We jumped on our bikes in direction of the train station. Regional trains only accept 6 bikes per train and we were nine, so we had to make two groups. Both groups missed their respective trains (we had eaten too much)! The train brought us to Mantorp, where we biked again to the location of the traditional Midsummer event.
And there, kids were putting flowers on the pole, two musicians were entertaining us and we played the lottery. Everyone except us was Swedish. We also met my Swedish teacher, a purveyor of great tips about Swedish life.
The flowery pole was put up and we danced Små Grodorna, the typical ‘frog’ Midsummer dance, with Swedes of all ages.
Contrary to the usual Midsummer, it didn’t rain and it was quite warm. We finished the day with a barbecue back in Linköping, another tradition.
Have you ever celebrated Midsommar?
//Agathe
