Curious about Swedish holidays, personal milestones and national races? This section explains how people celebrate, what to bring, what to say, dress codes, invitations, and why these traditions still shape everyday life.
Ever experienced a Happy Birthday Swedish style? I recently celebrated a big birthday party and discovered the various ways to congratulate someone in Swedish. There is, in fact, an array of ways to say it, some obvious and some frankly odd.
Valborg in Sweden is a rich tradition and a fun night out. For a non religious country, it may seem surprising that Sweden celebrates many Christian and Pagan holidays. Valborg, also known as Walpurgis night literally means witch night. Traditionally, whole towns would gather around huge bonfires and try to scare off evil spirits and witches.
What is Valborg? Valborgsmassafton a.k.a Walpurgis Night – in English, falls on the 30th of April (last day). All major cities within Sweden celebrate Valborg annually. It is one of the look-forward-to days on the Swedish calendar. If the city has a University then at a 99% confident interval, it will have a special event for it.
Each year on the 30th April, crowds gather in many Swedish cities to celebrate Valborg, an ancient festival heralding the arrival of spring and commemorating St Walburga, an 8th Century Christian missionary known for fighting witchcraft. Valborg in Uppsala (Sweden’s fourth city) is a particularly big and popular celebration.
In a world which has, until recently, moved at an ever-faster pace, there is something very reassuring and peaceful about the way in which Sweden adheres to a well-established calendar of festivals throughout the year. It gives a rhythm to the seasons, as well as heralding their secrets.
Midsummer eve (midsommarafton) is one of the most celebrated days in Sweden. So let’s play one step forward, one step back.
What makes everyone in Sweden happy? Summer. Life in Sweden can be sometimes challenging due to the long and dark winters. But it changes when comes the summer and the light brings people together. Midsommar in Sweden is the start signal for summer long vacations and family time.
Christmas and Advent in Sweden. Is it your first Christmas away from home or are you experienced to the Swedish way of advent and Christmas by now? Few things can make us feel at home as much as traditions which also means that being a part of new traditions in a new country, can be very disorienting and lonely. So let us do our best to give you a comprehensive guide to Swedish Christmas and advent traditions.
Christmas (Jul) in Sweden is a cozy time – filled with lots of white lights, snow, freezing temperatures, trees lit up in every town centre. It is also the darkest month of the year, meaning Swedes go wild with the tea lights and stars in the windows to make up for the lack of sun. Let’s take a dive into how Christmas is celebrated in Sweden.
Let’s face it – the darkness during the winter months sucks. So it’s not surprising that Swedes, being resourceful creatures, have come up with a a bunch of activities to battle the December blues and most of those are centered around something called Advent.
The end of the year is here and we yearn for the white winter. It is almost like the way they celebrate Christmas Eve and New Year in every other country — the festive lights and red-white decorations surround you. Except, it’s freezing cold and the nights are darker and longer here. Yes, you know what I’m talking about – it’s Sweden!
Swedish races of all shapes and forms are a staple in the life of many Swedes. The beginning of the year, to me, equals with optimism: Longer days, a fresh start, a pretty-much empty diary waiting to be filled with exciting opportunities and of course the new years resolution. I’m definitely not alone in promising myself to eat more healthily, drink less alcohol and do more exercise, but how do you keep up the motivation?
