Midsommar — The Festival of Light

Midsommar (Midsummer) is Sweden's most important and popular festival — more important than Christmas, many Swedes say. It is celebrated on the Friday between June 19th and 25th (Midsommarafton, the eve, is the actual festival day) and marks the summer solstice — the longest day of the year.

The Process

Midsommar is a deeply rural festival — most Swedes go to the countryside, to relatives or friends with a summer house (stuga). The day follows a set ritual:

1. Morning: Flower Picking — Traditionally, women and children gather seven different wildflowers and weave them into flower crowns (blomsterkransar) worn on the head. Legend has it you must pick the flowers in silence and place the crown under your pillow — then you will dream of your future love.
2. Midday: Raising the Maypole — The Midsommarstång (maypole or midsummer pole) is decorated with birch leaves and flowers and erected in a meadow. The raising is a community project and a reason to celebrate.
3. Afternoon: Dancing — Around the maypole, people dance in a circle, accompanied by folk music (fiddle and accordion). The most famous dances: Små grodorna (Little Frogs — everyone hops like frogs, complete with croaking) and other traditional ring dances. It looks absurd, and that's the point.
4. The Feast: The Midsommar meal is traditional and sacred:
   • Herring (sill) in various marinades (mustard, onion, curry, garlic) — the centerpiece
   • New potatoes (nypotatis) — with dill and butter
   • Gräddfil (sour cream) and chives
   • Strawberries with cream — THE Midsommar dessert
   • Snaps (Aquavit) — with drinking songs (snapsvisor)! With each glass, a song is sung, the most popular: "Helan går!" (The whole goes down!) and "Fredmans epistel"
5. Evening/Night: Music, drinking, conversations into the white nights — the sun sets in the south only around 10:30 p.m., not at all in the north.

Where to Celebrate Midsommar?

• Dalarna — The province is considered the "heart of the Midsommar tradition." Rättvik, Leksand, and Mora by Lake Siljan celebrate particularly authentically and colorfully. Here, the costumes are real, the traditions deep, and the festival at its most beautiful.
• Skansen, Stockholm — The open-air museum celebrates publicly and is accessible to all: maypole, dances, folk music. Perfect for tourists who don't have a summer house in the countryside.
• Everywhere in the Countryside — Every village celebrates. Just ask and join in — Swedes are particularly hospitable at Midsommar.

Important for Travelers: On Midsommar, all shops are closed, most restaurants too. Stockholm is like deserted — the whole city is in the countryside. If you are in Sweden at Midsommar, stock up on food beforehand and plan your stay around the festival.