To celebrate Midsummer's Eve is an old tradition that existed before Christianity. It was then held to welcome summertime and the season of fertility. When it eventually became a Christian holiday, it was held to commemorate John the Baptist. Today it's probably considered by many Swedes as the most traditional Swedish festivity of the year, and the celebrations are probably a mixture of really old and not so old traditions. To raise leafy maypoles or midsummer trees to dance around is believed to go back as far as the 16th century. Because the day always falls somewhere between the 20th and 25th off June, it's at the height of summer with long days and very short nights. Nights that used to be considered a magical night and a good night to tell people's fortune. It's still believed today that you will dream of your future spouse if you pick 7 different types of wild flowers and put them under your pillow at night!
None of us picked any flowers, but we did go to the midsummer dance with William (who was a little bit overwhelmed by it all) and we did eat our herring, sour cream and strawberries and drank our snaps!
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