Home and Garden: MID SUMMER

Midsummer celebrations in Sweden were held to welcome summertime and the season of fertility. In some areas, therefore, people dressed up as ‘green men’, clad in ferns. They also decorated their houses and farm tools with foliage, and raised tall, leafy maypoles to dance around, probably as early as the 16th century and modelled on a German tradition. Midsummer was primarily an occasion for young people, but it was also celebrated in the industrial communities of central Sweden, where all mill employees were given a feast of pickled herring, beer and schnapps. It was not until the 20th century, however, that this became the most Swedish of all traditional festivities. Enjoy ~ Culture & Values Committee