Happy Midsummer’s Day! It’s the longest day of the year, though here in Belgium, the sun is barely peeking through and we’re huddled inside. Instead, I’ll tell you about my Midsummer’s Day last year in Sweden. It was really fun!
Picking Wildflowers
Closeup of Maypole Decorations
Thomas was working in the US and I couldn’t go along, so I headed up to Stockholm to visit my in-laws. In Sweden, Midsummer’s Day is a national holiday. Celebrating the longest day of the year is important when their winters have only 5 hours of daylight. The celebrations start with raising a maypole decorated in greens. Then, with wildflower wreaths in their hair, Swedes dance around the maypole and sing traditional songs.
My favorite is called Små grodorna:
Små grodorna, små grodorna är lustiga att se.
Små grodorna, små grodorna är lustiga att se.
Ej öron, ej öron, ej svansar hava de.
Ej öron, ej öron, ej svansar hava de.
Kou ack ack ack, kou ack ack ack,
kou ack ack ack ack kaa.
Kou ack ack ack, kou ack ack ack,
kou ack ack ack ack kaa.English translation:
Small frogs, small frogs are funny to see.
Small frogs, small frogs are funny to see.
No ears, no ears, no tails have they.
No ears, no ears, no tails have they.
Quack quack quack, quack quack quack,
Quack quack quack quacka.
Quack quack quack, quack quack quack,
Quack quack quack quacka.
To celebrate, my in-laws took me to Skansen, an open-air musem and zoo in downtown Stockholm where there was a big Midsummer’s Day celebration. Until it started, we toured through the 19th-century replica town, where my Mother-in-law pointed out things that reminded her of her grandmother’s home. We also checked out the Nordic animals in the zoo, and watched visitors picnicking and making wildflower wreaths.
Traditional 19th-century farmhouse
Making wreaths
In the afternoon, we headed over to the maypole where there was a band in traditional costumes singing and dancing. They raised the maypole and everyone joined in a circle for more singing and dancing. Thankfully, my mother-in-law translated for me. :) It was great fun to let loose and be silly – folks of all ages were joining in.
The Midsummer parties head on late into the night. At this time of year, the sun is up almost to midnight. Swedes enjoy a smörgåsbord (large buffet of Swedish food – bread, cheese, meatballs, pickled herring, strawberries, etc. – and lots of vodka. Bonfires are another tradition. They say that if you jump over the bonfire (the vodka may help here), the height of your jump predicts the height of the crops in the following year.
Overall, it was a really fun celebration and I can’t wait to go with Thomas and Baguette there sometime in the future. If you’d like to see more photos from Midsummer’s Day, I’ve posted them on PicasaWeb:
- Midsummer’s Day Celebration at Skansen (36 photos)
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so so fun to see. Makes me want to hoot and holler and sing about frogs with no ears too! Quack, quack, quack! Hope the sun shines too. It is hot as the dickens back in the ATL!