In a world that has, until recently, moved at an ever-faster pace, there is something very reassuring and peaceful about the way Sweden follows a well-established calendar of festivals throughout the year. It gives a rhythm to the seasons, as well as revealing their secrets.
Lucia celebrates light in the midst of winter, Valborg marks the banishing of winter and the arrival of spring, and perhaps most glorious of all, Midsommar seems to be the ultimate saluting of the wonders of the Swedish summer. Midsummer in Sweden takes place this Saturday.
What does it consist of
Whereas Swedes often keep a low profile during the winter months, the coming of spring and summer brings new sort of energy. Nowhere is this felt more strongly than at the many Midsummer celebrations in Sweden taking place this weekend, as they do every year.
Living in Sweden, you cannot miss the incredibly special character of summer – it is a full-scale show of nature at its most giving with seemingly endless nights, air fragrant with generous blooms blowing in the breeze, water glimmering with light, islands just waiting to be explored. Something to celebrate indeed. This sense of abundance is at the heart of Midsummer in Sweden.
As with other key festivals, midsummer is something which few ignore. It is a wonderful opportunity for communities to congregate around the symbolic midsommarstång (maypole), crafted of greenery and – in our case – old brooms and bicycle tyres and painstakingly decorated with flowers until it becomes an exuberant focal point for joyous dancing and casting aside all cares aside.
Villages and towns will gather in open spaces, from famous parties in the Dalarna region to well-known celebrations at Stockholm’s Skansen, to anywhere you care to visit. The tone is open-hearted, welcoming, unprepossessing, so don’t be afraid to join in and get a real taste of Sweden at its most elemental.
What to expect
At Midsummer in Sweden, expect people dancing in typical dress, a feast of salmon, smoked herring, Västerbottenpaj (a classic cheese tart) and special strawberry cake, all bedecked in wildflowers and washed down with generous amounts of aquavit spirit. Prepare to let your hair down – you may find yourself, frog-like, dancing to the famous strains of Små grodorna (Little Frogs), leaping and prancing with the best of them.
This is something utterly charming and whole-hearted. Something which harks back to a simpler time and, given the current challenges of the COVID-19 situation, Midsummer may prove a particularly welcome antidote. It certainly bestows an extraordinary feeling of timelessness and tranquillity, as the hours move inevitably onwards with only the faintest darkening before another day takes its place. This is truly a night which will be etched in your memory.
“An evening without end bathed in pools of light, gently waning but disappearing only momentarily around midnight before the sun reasserted itself and the new day began. A light almost ephemeral at times, gently persistent, beckoning you to savour and enjoy its every moment for itself and mindful of the counterpoint of winter’s darkness. A night to remember; a bubble.”
(excerpt from So Sweden – Living Differently)
Further reading
Thursday, December 25 | 2025
