Swedish Midsommar: A Beginner’s Guide

If you’re learning Swedish, or even just a little bit curious about Sweden, the Swedish Midsommar celebrations are something you need to know about.

Midsommar marks the summer solstice – the longest day of the year – usually on June 20 or 21. In a country where winter days can feel painfully short, you can imagine how much summer means. And Midsommar is the peak of it all.

But there’s a second layer to it too. Swedish Midsommar was traditionally celebrated on June 24 because that’s Johannes Döparens dag, John the Baptist’s Day. And it’s not just a Swedish thing: across Europe (especially Northern Europe), this day is marked in his name in different ways (more on that later).

So how big is Midsommar? Well, think about it this way: it’s basically like Christmas. But in summer. And while Christmas is usually a family thing, Midsommar is typically celebrated in bigger friend circles, outdoors.

Midsommarafton (Midsummer Eve) falls on the first Friday between June 19 and 25, with Midsommar (Midsummer) on the Saturday right after. This year, that means Midsommarafton lands on June 19 and Midsommardagen on June 20.

Midsommar didn’t always have a floating date. Originally, it was fixed on June 24 – because of Johannes Döparens dag – with Midsommarafton on June 23. The change to a floating Friday came in 1953, so the holiday could fit better into the working week and people could actually enjoy it properly without having to drag themselves to work the next morning.

One thing worth pointing out: Like with most Nordic celebrations, the real party happens the evening before the actual day: Midsommarafton – Midsummer Eve – is when Swedes actually celebrate, and that’s the night you don’t want to miss.

So what does Midsommar actually look like in practice? People gather outside, there’s dancing and singing around the Midsommar pole, games, food, drinks, and everyone’s wearing midsommarkransar, flower wreaths. And it doesn’t wrap up after an hour or two. The whole thing stretches on for hours, into that long, bright June evening that barely seems to get dark.

Now, let’s take a look at the Midsommar essentials:

The heart of the celebration is the midsommarstång, the midsummer pole. You might also hear it called majstång, but here’s the thing: that has nothing to do with the month maj (May). Att maja is an old Swedish verb that means to decorate with leaves. The stång, decorated with leaves and flowers, symbolises good harvest and growth, which makes a lot of sense once you think about the timing: it’s the start of summer, after all.

There’s dancing and singing around the stång, and the most famous song is Små grodorna, “The Little Frogs.” And yes, that means everyone hops around like a frog. Everyone. 🐸 No exceptions, no matter how dignified you were feeling five minutes ago.

The chorus goes like this:

The midsommarkrans is one of the most iconic images of Swedish Midsommar. Traditionally, wreaths are made from wild flowers picked on Midsommar Eve itself, and worn in your hair throughout the celebrations.

But it’s not just a pretty accessory. The tradition goes back much further – all the way to pre-Christian fertility rites and folk magic, where the greenery of nature at Midsommar was believed to carry healing and magical powers.

No Swedish Midsommar table is complete without a few classics:

🥔 färskpotatis/ nypotatis med dill – fresh new potatoes with dill

🐟 inlagd sill – pickled herring (more types of sill in the vocabulary list below)

🐟 gravlax – cured salmon

🧆 köttbullar – meatballs

🍓 jordgubbar – strawberries, served fresh with whipped cream or on a ↴

🍰 jordgubbstårta – strawberry cake

If there’s one dish that says “midsommar” more than any other, it’s probably potatoes + herring + strawberries.

And to drink, you’ve usually got:

🍺 öl – beer

🥃 snaps, a small shot of either brännvin or akvavit, both distilled spirits, with the difference being that akvavit is usually flavoured with caraway, dill, or other herbs

But here’s the part that always surprises people: you don’t just drink the snaps. You sing for it first. A snapsvisa is a drinking song you sing before taking your shot, and the most famous one is Helan går, which includes the line:

“Den som inte helan tar, han heller inte halvan får”

Roughly, “Whoever doesn’t take the first shot won’t get the second.” You’ll hear this one a lot. Learn it, and you’ll make Swedish friends instantly. I promise. 😅

Midsommarnatten, Midsummer Night, was believed to have a bit of magic to it. There’s an old belief that if you pick seven flowers in complete silence and place them under your pillow, you’ll dream of the person you’re going to marry. 💐

But there’s a catch: not a single word. If you speak, it doesn’t work.

If you’re heading to a Midsommar party – or just want to impress someone with your Swedish – here are the words you need:

Not really, but Sweden has definitely made it iconic. Many countries (especially in Northern Europe) mark the summer solstice or John the Baptist’s Day in their own way, with bonfires, dancing, singing, flowers, and wreaths. The details differ, but the feeling is pretty similar everywhere.

Denmark celebrates Sankthansaften, and so does Norway, and Finland has Juhannus. In all three, bonfires are the main event, and the midsummer pole really isn’t a thing, except among Swedish-speaking Finns, especially on the island of Åland.

So when you put it all together, midsommarstången, Små grodorna, midsommarkransen, sill och potatis (och jordgubbar!), that whole combination is distinctly Swedish. And that’s exactly why people all over the world picture this specific scene when they think of Midsummer.

So that’s Midsommar: a long, bright day spent outside with friends, dancing around a pole, hopping like a frog, eating potatoes and herring, singing before every shot, and finishing it all off with strawberries and cream. Not a bad way to spend the longest day of the year, if you ask me.

Glad midsommar! 🌞

Yani,
Your Swedish teacher 🇸🇪