By Elisabeth Thorsell

Midsummer used to be celebrated on the 23rd and 24th of June, but the government did not like another holiday that could happen any day in the week, it was disrupting the working week. In the 1950s it was moved to the weekend closest to the 24th of June, John the Baptist's Day.

Like Christmas it is the day before that is the important day in Sweden, Midsommarafton. Most people take off from home on Thursday and travel to their summer cottages or relatives in the countryside. The cars can be decorated with birch twigs on the front. Friday is the big day, that everyone is looking forward to.

Photo by Bo Berndtsson

In most cases it is clad with garlands of fresh birch leaves and decorated with rings of flowers in the morning of Midsummer Eve (Midsommarafton), a work often done by women and children.

In the afternoon the people gather, and the lying Maypole is carried in procession to the place, where it will be raised. Most often the procession is lead by a couple of fiddlers, and then the strong men of the village, with a couple of smaller poles also. The men then lift the Maypole by the use of the smaller poles and see that it gets secure in a special hole in the ground.

In Dalarna the Maypole is standing the year round, but in most other places they take it down when the greenery is gone.

When the Maypole is raised everyone cheers and the dancing around the Maypole starts with traditional tunes. Adults and little children dance the Små grodorna, the Skära, skära havre, the Flickan hon går i ringen, and many more at the call of a dance leader. The music is played by fiddlers and often also an accordion player.

These festivities are often visited by returning local people who have moved away, but come "home" again for the summer.

In the evening there are often dances arranged at some outdoors arena (festplats) and young people meet each other and enjoy the long evening light.

An old tradition is that the night of Midsummer Eve is a magic night, and you can get to know things you do not easily find out otherwise. If you are a young girl, you can go out in the night and pick seven kinds of flowers and bring home, and then put them under your pillow, and you will dream about your future husband. Very important is that you keep silent and do not say a word from the start of the flower-picking until next morning.

Midsummer's Day (Midsommardagen) is a church holiday and a flag day (flaggdag), which means that you see the Swedish flag all over cities and on buses and in gardens.