Midsummer’s Eve is finally here and all over Sweden this big occasion is celebrated in various ways. But there are a few essentials you’ll need to make the celebration complete.

The decorations (dekorationerna):

A handmade daisy chain (blomsterkrans) is today’s signature piece, all kids and women (mostly) wear them. They are easily (ehm, kind of…) made with a piece of wire, some green branches and flowers of your choice. Some use nothing but flowers, I would probably use birch as filler. It’s easier and takes less time that way. Birch is also used to decorate doorframes, balconies and tables, along with flowers, tonnes of flowers!

The clothes (kläderna):
Traditionally, this is the day to wear you national costume if you by any chance would have one. In the province of Dalarna, this tradition still lives on but it’s a bit more difficult to spot a national costume in the rest of the country. A raincoat over a summer outfit seem to be more common, since this day normally is quite bad weather-wise. But today’s rapports from Sweden luckily says sunshine, I honestly can’t remember the last time I experienced a sunny Midsummer’s Eve. On the other hand; I have always spent them on the west coast. It tends to be better up north.

The food (maten):
The good old smorgasbord with herring, new potatoes, meatballs, sausages, salmon and a bit more herring is normally eaten for lunch. Strawberries and cream is also a must, along with a barbeque in the evening.

The drinks (dryckerna):
Midsummer’s Eve is one of Sweden’s biggest drinking nights and it’s not unusual for Systembolaget to run out of booze these days. The queues are massive the days before and people mostly buy beer and Aquavit of different flavours. Elderflower, dill, juniper, cumin and anis are some of the taste sensations you might get in your shotglas today and of course, no drinking without a drinking song.

The entertainment (underhållningen):
The traditional dancing around the midsummer pole normally takes place around 3pm. In most places, the council organize big gatherings in public spaces with pole dancing (no, not THAT kind…), raffles, games and entertainment, often traditional folk dance. People with big gardens might make their own midsummer pole (smaller scale) and the design of the poles varies across the country.

There are thousands of videos on Youtube showing Swedes swinging around the pole andpathetic as I am, I started sobbing when browsing through these! I am homesick today and I bet many fellow expat Swedes feel the same. Here is one of the lot, thought I might show you something different than the crown point  “Små Grodorna” (The little frogs) but just jump to the end if you fancy seeing some Swedes imitate frogs.

The end (slutet):
If you are not too dizzy after all the Aquavit and the running around the pole, you should end Midsummer’s Eve by picking seven different kinds of wild flowers and put under your pillow. The person who you will marry in the future will then appear in your dreams…

Sweet dreams and a lovely Midsummer’s Eve to everyone! Mine will contain herring from IKEA, flowers from Tesco, a homemade, weird looking mini midsummer pole and a great bunch of Bristolian Swedes. Not too bad, after all.

Photo credit: Bo Lind and Fredrik Sweger/Sweden.se