Midsummer Celebrations

Midsommarstång Markus Bernet  CC BY-SA 2.5 httpscreativecommons.orglicensesby-sa2.5  via Wikimedia Commons

Photo by Markus Bernet

Christina here. In a few days it will be midsummer and as I’m going to be in Sweden then, I’ll be celebrating more than usual. Nordic summer nights are special and there’s nothing more special than midsummer – it’s a big deal in Sweden and should preferably be experienced in the countryside somewhere. People head out of the towns en masse in order to enjoy nature. Maybe because of the long, cold dark nights they have to put up with for half the year, they appreciate the light warm evenings of summer all the more. Summer is short, so this time is precious, and especially the longest night of the year.

This year summer solstice falls on Tuesday 21st June but here it's not always celebrated on the correct date. The Swedes have decided to always have Midsummer Eve on a Friday, so it can be any day between 19th and 25th June. But the sentiment is the same.

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