This weekend it’s a big one in Sweden, probably the most loved holiday of the year is happening on Saturday: Midsummer (Midsommar – sv)

This holiday is a very serious celebration for the Swedish people, shops and everything else are closing the day before, everyone leaves town and visits the countryside, supplies of food and drinks are made in time; in a few words, it’s like a summer Christmas.

Midsummer is the announcement of summer – even though the name suggests the middle of it – and the beginning of vacation for almost everyone in Sweden. As I noted when I moved here, a majority of Sweden takes 5 weeks of full vacation during July.

How is Midsommar celebrated?

Most of the people are gathering with the family on the countryside, but many also take the opportunity of free time to travel outside the country. Hence the price of the flights gets higher than usual during this period.

The 2 most representative celebration tools for this holiday is the DIY Midsommar flower crown and the Maypole, a symbol of fertility, around which people dance during the daytime. But check this funny video which explains more than I could and is very entertaining.

How to create your own flower crown?

The thing is, the Midsummer holiday in Sweden is very similar to the Romanian holiday Sânzienele which is celebrated at the same time. Around the villages, girls are dressing in white, pick flowers which they’ll later use to make a beautiful crown, dance around the bonfire by night. Pretty similar to the Swedish tradition. Except here in Sweden is a very popular moment of the summer. If you want to know more about the Romanian holiday, read Mircea Eliade’s “The Forbidden Forest” which brings reference to it and it’s a breathtaking novel.

So, I looked all over the internet to find an inspirational DIY flower crown video and here you have one created by the girls from LEAF. Why use the Snapchat filter, when you can create your own crown? Even if you don’t celebrate this holiday, this piece is really fashionable for the summer, so go ahead and watch the video and let me know if you’ve tried making it. I might, this year, actually.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBpBS4QyEsQ

Glad Midsommar! 

L.