Are you familiar with Midsummer Day (traditionally June 24) and Midsummer Eve (June 23)? We’ll explain why it’s called “Midsummer” when the day is so near the first day of summer (the solstice), why it’s also St. John the Baptist Day, and some fun traditions!
Midsummer, a holiday celebrating the traditional midpoint of the harvest season and the summer solstice (June 20 or 21), the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Midsummer is celebrated in many countries but is synonymous with Scandinavia, where it is observed as a national holiday.
Midsummer marks the longest day of the year – a magical moment when the sun barely sets, and in parts of northern Sweden, it literally doesn’t. Here, you can experience the Midnight Sun, a natural phenomenon where daylight lingers around the clock.
Midsummer celebrates the joy of long, warm days spent outside in the summertime. It’s held near the summer solstice—the first day of summer and the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere—and is believed to be a period of good fortune and fertility.
Midsummer marks the definitive arrival of summer. It means exactly what it sounds like, “in the middle of summer,” and the word already existed in Old Swedish as miþsumar. The holiday is celebrated in connection with the summer solstice, which is the time of year when the sun is at its highest point in the northern hemisphere.
Midsummer, or “Midsommar” in Swedish, is one of the most celebrated holidays in Scandinavia. It takes place around the summer solstice on June 21, marking the longest day and shortest night of...