Out of everything Swedish, this is probably the ‘Swedishist’. Close your eyes and let your childhood memories of midsummer swirl past you.
At Åsa Camping & Havsbad we always celebrate midsummer as it should be: traditionally, with a maypole, games and entertainment the whole weekend.
Our midsummer is first and foremost the children’s. Together we’ll make the most beautiful maypole; decorate it in the morning then follow up with dances, games and entertainment. The evening is for socialising with nearest and dearest – herrings, potatoes and strawberries. And a BBQ of course! Midsummer Day continues with classic games, a treasure hunt, bouncy castles and live music in the evening.
This year’s programme isn’t quite ready yet, we’re still working on it. Naturally it will be a midsummer adapted to whatever regulations may still be in place – and if there aren’t any, all the better.
We hope you’ll join us to celebrate midsummer - 20-23 June 2024!
Why do we celebrate midsummer?
For us Swedes it’s so obvious that we probably haven’t ever asked that question. Here’s the answer anyway. In the darker northern latitudes like ours we celebrate the summer solstice – the longest day of the year. And not just here, many other Northern European countries also celebrate it. Since 1953 Midsummer Eve has always been on a Friday between 19-25 June.
But Midsummer in the past was a religious festival celebrating St John the Baptist’s birthday on 24 June. Before 1953 the midsummer weekend was a fixed festival, Midsummer Eve was always on 23 June. However, whether this Christian celebration became muddled up with the pagan one, like so many others, no one really knows.
For many, midsummer marks the start of their summer holidays. In farming communities in the past midsummer was a good time to break up the working year, while Midsummer Eve itself was thought to be full of magical powers and supernatural beings. Midsummer Day’s previous function as a religious festival is nowadays more or less non-existant.
Unlike Christmas, which is more of a family festival, Midsummer is celebrated with larger groups of friends and perhaps a completely different network. Like it is here, where you can rely on the company of good friends!
In Norway and Denmark Jonsok or Sankthans, the Feast of John the Baptist, is celebrated by lighting bonfires, and in Denmark paper witches are burned. This festival always takes place on 23 June – the day before the Feast of St John the Baptist – whichever day of the week it happens to land on.