Since Sweden’s pre-Christian times, its Vikings have feted the summer solstice – the longest day of the year. June 19 marks Sweden’s holiday of “Midsummer” – the high point of this latitude’s midnight sun – with feasting, parades, and national pride.
“It’s very Swedish, something that unites Swedes,” is how one reveler explained the Midsummer festivities. “It’s the ‘old thing,’ ” another good-naturedly joked. In at least one way, it’s old indeed – people in 18th-century-style clothing are everywhere.
Throughout much of the countryside, people dress in traditional folk costumes. Feasts are prepared and virtually everyone celebrates nature and heritage with regional music, dance, and the inevitable maypole – a symbol from Midsummer’s earliest beginnings. In recent times, it’s mostly children that dance around the maypole, and much of the holiday is centered around the young.
Christian Science Monitor
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