Swedish Midsummer
By Giorgia
Perhaps some of you have heard of the
Swedish midsummer celebration? It’s a
feast in the middle of the Swedish
summer where friends, relatives and
families are getting together. From an
astronomical point of view it is the
longest day at the whole year. At some
places the sun won’t even go down, so at
3 o’clock in the middle of the night it’s
daylight! After midsummer the days
starting to get shorter and it will be dark
sooner.
How we usually celebrating midsummer is
individual. Some people meet their
relatives and families, eating dinner,
drinking wine or beer, talking and just
hanging out. Later after all food the
tradition is to dance around a maypole.
You can see how it looks like in the
picture above. And if you stand aside
watching the others dancing, it really
looks funny and a bit stupid actually…
Others, especially teenagers in our age
use to meet their friends and have a
great party. Having a BBQ, chat with
friend and listen to music into the late
night. The girls use to wear a beautiful
dress and a rim of flowers upon their
head.
T h e t ra d i t i o n a l f o o d i s m e a t b a l l s ,
potatoes, small sausages and a fish called
herring. When we eat we also sing
traditional songs and in the pauses we’re
drinking “snaps”. It’s like a really strong
shot.