Today is a big celebration in Finland and in other Scandinavian countries – Midsummer. This is a holiday that is celebrated around Summer Solstices, which this year was the 21st of June, i.e. on Tuesday. This means that the day is the longest of all the day’s of the year. In Lapland (northern Finland), the sun does not set at all. It will actually set the next time in July (read more about Summer Solstice in my other blog post here).
This picture is taken last year in Sondby, a couple of weeks before Midsummer, at around 1.00 am.
This picture is taken last year at my Summer house, a couple of weeks before Midsummer, at around midnight.
So, the thing is, it’s almost daylight throughout the night. Midsummer is celebrated among family and/or friends. People go out to their summer houses. There are approximately 500.000 summer houses in Finland. That means that with a population of roughly 5.500.000, more or less every other family has a summer house.
So what do you do on Midsummer?
Eat
The new potatoes, fresh from the ground, are just the best potatoes on this planet! They are so sweet and delicious. A lot of different fish is severed with the boiled potatoes; herrings, salmon, whitefish etc. Barbecue and salads also make up the Midsummer table. As for drinks; beer, cider, wine and of course – snaps! Water and other non-alcoholic beverages are naturally permitted. As decoration you usually use wildflowers.
Go to sauna
Yes, as written before, the sauna culture is strong in Finland. There are between 2 and 3 million saunas in Finland, so that means that roughly every other Finn has a sauna. In some families you go to sauna during the day, before you eat and in others you end the evening with sauna. And yes, spanking with the birch branches is a must, lol.
Light a bonfire
A very common tradition is to light a bonfire. The idea is to keep bad spirits away. It was believed that the spirits become restless during both Winter and Summer Solstice. Therefore the bonfires. This is a great opportunity to get rid of branches and old wooden stuff at your summer house!
Pick wildflowers
Midsummer night is, needless to say, magical! It is said, according to old traditions, that unmarried women, who pick seven different wildflowers and place them under their pillow, will dream of their future husband. I can’t say that that happened to me – on the other hand I never picked nor placed any flowers underneath my pillow, lol. I just went to Japan. 😉
Midsummer statistics
Unfortunately a lot of people get drunk and drown. There’s nothing wrong in getting drunk, but the problem arises when people go boating, fishing or swimming while their drunk. The amount of people that drown depends roughly on the weather – the colder it is, the fewer drown. Well usually.
Missing Midsummer
Apart from the drownings, Midsummer is a very nice holiday. Before I moved down to Texas, I was told by several people, that the times that will be the hardest living abroad, are the holidays. The holidays, that you are used to spend according to your culture and customs, in your own country. And what can I say? True, true and true. I really miss Finland, especially the summer and the celebrations.
I want to wish all of my family and friends a lovely Midsummer! Enjoy the food and drinks, the sauna, the bonfires – all of it! And please, don’t drink too much. And when you do (because I know you will, lol) – make sure you have a friend who hides your car keys and makes sure you don’t end up in the Midsummer statistics!!!
Have a good one!
CC
with daring steps 