Midsummer is a celebration on one of the longest days of the year. While it is and has historically been celebrated through most of Northern Europe, the Swedish midsummer is, well, uniquely Swedish. Uniquely Swedish things seem to fascinate non-Swedes, inspiring things from the very popular “Swedish Midsummer for Dummies” video (an excellent multimedia supplement to this post) to an original NBC TV series premiering in the US on July 10th.
This past weekend, all of Sweden and Finland (and several other countries as well) celebrated midsummer. I had the chance to teach some of the quirks and intricacies of celebrating midsummer to some of my closest non-European friends, and it inspired me to write a travel blog post this week. Here’s a selection of things you don’t want to go to midsummer without, whether you’re celebrating in Sweden, NYC (the biggest organized midsummer celebration outside of Sweden apparently), or elsewhere:
Basic krans materials: twine or ribbon, scissors, a store-bought wire garland as a base, and your own flowers are all excellent resources if you like to plan in advance. If you prefer to wing it or do it au naturel, you can make a 100% plant based (free range, etc. etc.) krans with some clever engineering.
Picnic: lingonberry juice, fresh strawberries, mariekex, and some candy is all you need if you want to be low maintenance. Add alcohol if you wish, and to go all out, add lax, nypotatis, köttbullar, etc.
Picnic blanket: claim your territory for the day
Water: If you must buy a non-reusable bottle, make sure the water is sparkling and flavored to be properly Swedish. Don’t forget to recycle or sell back your bottle!
Camera: do take photos and preferably videos of non-Swedes trying to follow the dances.
Claritin: pollen everywhere is wonderful when it is finally summer, but not if you start sneezing.
Bug spray: whether the summer mosquitoes are Swedish or not, they’ll get you!
Bathing suit: it’s super refreshing to take a dip, especially if you’re in Sweden and can brave some non-tropical waters!
Do not pack:
Sunglasses. If you do, it will probably pour.
Too much alcohol. Snaps and snapsvisor come with dinner in the evening after your day of midsummer!
Happy celebrating!
anchored & adrift 