Midsummer's Eve
At the end of June, Sweden celebrates Midsummer's Eve, which is probably the most popular festival
day in Sweden, together with Christmas and New Year's Eve. In 2004, Midsummer's Eve will be on 25
June and Midsummer's Day on 26 June.
Midsummer Eve is a public holiday and an ancient tradition to celebrate the year’s longest day and
shortest night. The Swedes dance around the maypole and sing traditional summer songs and feast on
pickled herring, new potatoes, sour cream with chives, followed by strawberries with ice cream and
whipped cream. It is important to drink schnapps with the herring.
Midsummer Eve celebrates the birth of John the Baptist. Originally, though, Midsummer was an old
pagan celebration, dating back to the Viking Era. It was a fertility rite, where the maypole was a
phallic symbol to "impregnate" Mother nature, helping to give a good harvest in the autumn.
The customs around Midsummer are many and very old. The maypole is the most important symbol of
Midsummer Day. It is usually a cross dressed with birch twigs and flowers and people play old songs
and dance around the pole in nearly every village. Many people make a flower wreath for their
heads. One old custom is where people (traditionally mainly girls and women) pick either 7 or 9
flowers of different species to put under their pillows, and when they sleep they will then dream
about the person they will marry! How many different flowers are picked can vary, because the
custom is a little diffferent in different parts of the country. According to some, the flowers
should be picked at a crossroad, and after picking the flowers, you are not allowed to speak until
next morning. So, Midsummer's Eve is seen as a magical night.
Midsummer's Day Maypole