Midsummer

Around the pole

Swedish Midsummer has agrarian roots and was originally celebrated to mark the beginning of summer. The day often begins with picking flowers and making wreaths, and then the maypole, the centre of the celebration, is clad in leaves and flowers and raised in an open spot. Traditional ring dances follow — the “small frogs” dance is a must — to the delight of children and some of the adults, while teenagers wait for the evening’s livelier entertainment.

Most people celebrate in the countryside, so the day before, the main roads out of the cities fill with queues of cars, and on Midsummer’s Eve the city streets are strangely deserted.

Herring, songs and seven flowers

The typical Midsummer meal is pickled herring with new potatoes, dill, soured cream and chives, then a grilled dish and strawberry cake. It is traditionally accompanied by cold beer and spiced schnapps, and every refill of the glasses sets off another song. After dinner many people still want to go out dancing, ideally on an outdoor dance floor, a dansbana, beside a lake.

Legend has it that the night before Midsummer’s Day is a magical time for love, and before going to bed you should pick seven different flowers. Like Whitsun, Midsummer is also a popular time for weddings and christenings, and some couples still choose a country church with a flower-decked entrance.