For most Swedes, there is something very special about Midsummer Eve in Sweden. Not just because it is one of the longest days of the year, or because the strawberries finally taste the way they should. It is something deeper than that. It is as if the entire country takes a collective breath, puts down what is heavy and chooses to just — be.
It is freedom in its purest form.
This year I'm celebrating at Lake Vänern
This year we packed the camper together with my little brother and his family and drove towards Ekenäs by Lake Vänern. With me of course I have Pu and Noa, my two white fluffy companions who never miss an adventure. Pu takes it all with his usual calm and dignity. Noa runs around as if Midsummer was invented just for him, which it perhaps was.
Vättern is one of Sweden's most magnificent lakes — deep blue, clear, and with a horizon that reminds you that the world is big and life is short and beautiful. Celebrating Midsummer here, with sparkling water and swaying birches, feels like being exactly where you're supposed to be.
This is how we celebrate in Sweden
Midsummer is always celebrated on the Friday closest to June 24th — Midsummer Eve — and is one of our most beloved holidays. The traditions are old and alive at the same time.
The Midsummer Pole is erected in the afternoon, dressed in birch leaves, flowers and wreaths. Then we dance around it — even those of us who don't really dance. "The Little Frogs..." is mandatory, regardless of age. It's one of the few moments in life when everyone looks equally happy and joyful, together.
The flower wreath is another tradition that lives on. We pick seven kinds of wild flowers and braid them into a wreath to wear on our heads. According to folklore, an unmarried woman who puts her seven flowers under her pillow on Midsummer's Eve will dream of her future husband. I'll put my wreath on Pu's head instead — he might be more receptive to magic.
The food is one of the best. The classic Midsummer food looks something like this:
- New potatoes with dill and butter — freshly harvested, cooked just right with dill in the water
- Matjes-Herring from ABBA (other herring spawns for other holidays: mustard herring, onion herring, etc.)
- Sour cream and chives
- In the evening we grill, preferably over an open fire.
- And so— strawberries. With whipped cream. There is no summer without them.
I personally like to mix in a little more liveliness on the table: fresh herbs, flower decorations, maybe a raw summer salad with all the best the garden and nature have to offer right now.
Songs and community is part of Midsummer. We sing together — Helan går, classic Swedish carols, children's songs around the Midsummer pole — and it's one of the few times when everyone joins in, regardless of age. It's the voice, the laughter and the community that's the magic. Not what's in the glass.
The magic of Midsummer Night
In Sweden, it's barely dark at all on Midsummer's Eve. The sky shifts between pink, gold and blue in an eternal twilight that never quite settles. It's one of the most beautiful natural phenomena we have, and it gives the evening a dreamy, almost magical quality.
Perhaps that's why Midsummer Night is always associated with love, encounters, and a bit of the supernatural. In folk belief, the night was full of witchcraft — fairies danced by streams, and if you listen closely at a crossroads around midnight, you can hear the future.
Where does the tradition come from?
Midsummer is one of Europe's oldest traditions and has its roots in prehistoric times, long before Christianity came to the North. The solstice — the longest day of the year — was one of the most important events in the calendar of peasant society. Fires were lit on high places to scare away evil spirits and welcome the power of summer. People prayed for a good harvest, good health and fertility.
The Midsummer pole is believed to have come to Sweden from the continent during the Middle Ages, possibly from Germany or Holland. It was combined with older Nordic traditions and became the celebration we know today.
For a long time, the church tried to link the feast to the birthday of John the Baptist on June 24th — hence the German name. St. John's Night — but the folk festivals lived their own lives, regardless.
Are similar holidays celebrated in other countries?
Yes — the solstice was celebrated throughout the ancient world, and many of these traditions survive:
Finland celebrates Midsummer with the same love as us — but with an extra dose of sauna, lake and fire. Midsummer bonfire is more central in Finland than in Sweden.
Denmark and Norway have their own versions of Midsummer and Midsummer celebrations, with bonfires and dancing.
Latvia and Lithuania holding Jani respective Joninės — intense nature celebrations with wreaths, bonfires and singing that last all night. The Baltics take the solstice seriously.
Poland has Kupały Night — a beautiful tradition where girls place flower garlands with candles on the water and let them float away. The one whose garland swam the furthest was lucky in love.
Spain, Portugal and France celebrates San Juan with bonfires, fireworks and a folk festival in June. In Valencia people jump over the fire for good luck.
England has Stonehenge — thousands of people gather at the solstice to watch the sun rise between the stones, just like four thousand years ago.
What unites all these traditions is the same thing: the reverence for light. The feeling that life, nature and community belong together.
For me, Midsummer reminds me of…
No matter how we celebrate — by Lake Vänern in a camper, in a summer cottage, on a balcony with strawberries and delicious chocolate — Midsummer is about the same thing.
To stop.
To be with those you love.
Letting nature remind us that we are part of something much bigger.
For me, Free Friday is about just that — the freedom to choose presence. To not rush ahead but actually land in the moment.
Yesterday I landed at Lake Vänern, with a view of the water, a little summer swim, with my family around me and two white dogs in the grass.
That's more than enough.
A hug from me, Maria 🌸
Please tell us about your celebration, I read everything…
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