There is a moment that happens every Swedish Midsommar – usually sometime around the third schnapps, while a circle of adults are hopping around a maypole pretending to be small frogs – when you realise that you are having the most uncomplicated fun of your adult life. Nobody is self-conscious. Nobody is checking their phone. Everyone is singing a song about small frogs who have no ears and no tails, and it is absolutely, completely fine.
This is Midsommar. And it is, without qualification, the best party in the world.
What Midsommar Actually Is
Midsommar – Midsummer – is the celebration of the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. In Sweden it falls on the Friday and Saturday between June 19th and June 26th, making it a national holiday that the entire country takes very seriously indeed. Swedes who have moved to the cities come back to their home villages. Families who haven't seen each other since Christmas reunite. The country essentially shuts down for the weekend.
At its core, Midsommar is a pagan celebration of summer, fertility and the light. The Christian calendar absorbed and adapted it, as it did with so many northern European festivals, but the roots run much older and deeper than that. In the countryside particularly, it retains a quality that feels genuinely ancient.
The Maypole
The visual centrepiece of Midsommar is the midsommarstång – the maypole. Despite the name, it goes up at Midsummer rather than May Day. It is a tall wooden cross-shaped pole decorated with birch leaves, flowers and garlands, raised in a field or village square to mark the arrival of summer light.
The raising of the pole is a communal effort that takes most of the morning and involves a lot of very good-natured argument about the correct way to do things. Once up, the dancing begins and does not stop until late – which, at Midsommar latitudes, means until the sun is still very much in the sky.
The Flower Crown
On Midsommar Eve, it is traditional to pick seven different kinds of wildflowers and weave them into a crown to wear in your hair. The tradition is particularly strong for children and young women, but at a proper Swedish Midsommar you'll see crowns on people of all ages and genders. It is the kind of thing that feels faintly ridiculous until you're actually doing it in a summer meadow, and then it feels completely right.
The flowers are also supposed to tell the future. A girl who picks seven kinds and sleeps with them under her pillow on Midsommar night will dream of her future husband. We cannot confirm the accuracy of this method, but the meadow-walking part is lovely regardless.
🌸 How to Make a Midsommar Flower Crown
Pick at least seven different wildflower varieties in the morning. Cornflowers, buttercups, clover, daisies and cow parsley are all traditional choices. Weave the stems together into a circle large enough to sit on your head – interlock them by stem as you go. Swedish friends will happily teach you if you ask.
The Food: Herring, Potatoes and More Herring
Midsommar food is specific, traditional and non-negotiable. The table will have pickled herring in multiple preparations – plain, with mustard, with dill, with onion, with cream. There will be new potatoes boiled with dill, sour cream and chives. There will be crispbread, strong cheese, and cold smoked salmon. And there will be strawberries with cream for dessert, because Swedish strawberries in June are among the best things you will eat anywhere this year.
The herring is the one that trips up most visitors. It is an acquired taste, admittedly. But part of the joy of Midsommar is eating exactly what everyone else is eating, so approach the herring with courage. The dill-and-potato combination that accompanies it is genuinely one of the great flavour pairings in northern European cuisine.
🥂 The Snaps Toast Ritual
At Midsommar, schnapps (snaps) is drunk in rounds throughout the meal. Each round is accompanied by a drinking song – there are dozens of traditional ones, all involving some combination of nature, summer and general cheerfulness. The most common is Helan Går. Don't worry about the words – you'll pick them up by the third round. Skål!
The Frog Dance
Små grodorna – "The Little Frogs" – is the song. You hop around the maypole in a circle with your hands on your hips, crouching and jumping at the appropriate moments in the lyrics. The song is about frogs who have no ears and no tails, which makes them wonderful and which also makes absolutely no sense as the basis for a national festival tradition. But there it is, and the fact that it makes no sense is entirely part of the charm.
Other dances – including the very Swedish polska and various other folk dances – continue throughout the afternoon and evening. You do not need to know the steps. Standing nearby smiling and clapping works perfectly well until someone grabs your hand and pulls you in, which will happen.
Where to Experience Midsommar
The most authentic Midsommar experience is in the Swedish countryside – Dalarna is particularly famous for its celebrations. The region around Lake Siljan, with its painted wooden churches and deep folk tradition, takes Midsommar extremely seriously and draws visitors from across the country for the festival at Rättvik.
Stockholm's archipelago is another option – many Stockholmers head to islands for the weekend, and the combination of Midsommar traditions and coastal scenery is hard to beat. Some islands host public celebrations that visitors are welcome to join.
For a more urban experience, Skansen open-air museum in Stockholm hosts one of the largest public Midsommar celebrations in the country, with maypole raising, folk dancing and traditional food. It's a reliable way to experience the celebration even if you don't have Swedish friends to invite you to their family gathering.
Practical Tips for Visitors
Midsommar weekend is one of the busiest travel periods in Sweden. Book accommodation months in advance – particularly in Dalarna and the archipelago, where demand enormously exceeds supply. Trains and ferries fill up fast. The reward for advance planning is access to one of the most joyful and genuinely Swedish experiences you can have.
If you're invited to a private family celebration, accept without hesitation. Swedes are generally welcoming to curious visitors who show genuine interest in their traditions. Bring flowers for the host, offer to help with preparation, and be prepared to dance. You will be welcomed.