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Summer in Sweden is short.
It starts showing its face in May and explodes
into life in June. The summer has to hurry to get things done before the nights
turn cold in September and everything stops growing.
At Midsummer, the Swedish
summer is lush green and bursting with chlorophyll, and the nights are scarcely
dark at all. In the north, the sun never sets.
At Midsummer, many begin their five-week annual holiday. Midsummer eve is
always celebrated on a Friday, everyone leaves town, everything closes and the
streets are suddenly spookily deserted.
Midsummer is an occasion invested with a certain nostalgia.
Deep inside,
Swedes are all agreed on what it should look like and how it should proceed.
People often begin the day by picking flowers and making wreaths to place on
the maypole, which is a key component in the celebrations. The maypole is
raised in an open spot and traditional ring-dances ensue, to the delight of
children and some adults. Teenagers tend to stay out of it and wait for the
evening's more riotous entertainment.
A typical Midsummer menu features different kinds of pickled herring, boiled
new potatoes with fresh dill, soured cream and raw red onion, spare rib or
salmon, and for dessert the irst strawberries of summer with cream. The
traditional accompaniment is a cold beer and schnapps. Every time the glasses
are refilled, singing breaks out anew. Swedes like drinking-songs.
On their way home, girls and young women are supposed to pick seven
different species of flowers and lay them under their pillows. At night, their
future husbands appear to them in their dream.
Legend has it that the night before Midsummer's Day is a magical time for
love. Like Whitsun, Midsummer is a popular time of the year for weddings.
If you are in London this weekend and am interested to watch or take part in
a Midsummer celebration go to Southwark Park.
Saturday 22 June, 3-6pm in Southwark
Park, Rotherhithe. Closest tube station is Canada Water or
overground Surrey Quays.
