Midsummer in Sweden

One of the holidays I love most in Sweden is Midsummer.

And guess what? Lo and behold, I've celebrated it for four years already and I still love every bit of the tradition and activities. Yesterday was Midsummer and I decided to put together a post of this uniquely Sweden celebration we had attended.

From a newly wed to preggie wife to now a proud mum, it still amazes me how time has flown.

*****

Midsummer is the most celebrated holiday apart from Christmas in Scandinavia. In Sweden, it originated from the time before Christianity and was celebrated as a sacrifice time in the sign of the fertility.

During the Midsummer celebration, a a "midsommarstång" (midsummer's pole) is raised and it is fully covered with greens and flowers. Dancing around the pole while singing songs associated with Midsummer is an activity that attracts families and kids. Some even wear traditional folk costumes or crowns made of wild springs and wildflowers on their heads.

A friend told us that the pole was believed be a phallic fertility symbol (check out its long tail and two balls hanging) and thus couples who danced around the pole on this day might have higher chances of getting impregnated. Well, true or not, we loved to dance around it just to immerse in the culture and to join in the merry fun.

One of the things I love most about Midsummer is the flea market that is set up in town for the day, with hundreds of booths selling all kinds of merchandise from clothing, accessories, toys, household items, collectables, souvenirs, food, fruits, desserts and so on. Yeap, a giant pasar malam and I dig it. Year after year. It's the most exciting day in Karlskrona where hundreds of people flock here from all over the place and you seem to be back in Orchard Road in Singapore.

Midsummer was also thought to be one of the times of the year when magic was strongest and thus was considered a good night to perform rituals to look into the future. Traditionally, young people pick bouquets of seven or nine different flowers and put them under their pillow in the hope of dreaming about their future spouse.

We had strawberries for dessert at every midsummer party and some were really sweet and juicy!

Angel's favourite activity had to be the fishing game - where kids queue up to fish for SWEETS. Each kid gets a whole bag of candy and you should see how her face lit up when she got her first one that year.

The hubby and I also loved to try our luck at the game stalls and usually we would manage to win a prize for Angel. Check out her newly acquired guitar from a game of darts!

This year was our last Midsummer celebration. The weather was superb and we had an enjoyable afternoon mingling with friends, dancing around, basking in the sun and simply feeling grateful for all the precious memories Sweden has given us.

Yes, another bag of sweets to make Angel's day! Yum yum!

At the flea market, we walked for over 5 hours just because I was reluctant to bid farewell and wanted to take in as much joy as possible on this happy day. Angel was more than thrilled too because she had a giant helium balloon (in the shape of a shark which she chose over a dolphin), some new toys and best of all, she went on the kiddy rides 7 times and enjoyed every moment of it.

That last picture is my favourite of all. A moment of pure innocence, bliss, simplicity and joy. A rusty, old, worn out carousel had the power to make her smile, laugh and she simply couldn't bear to say goodbye.

Yes, it's all these simple moments that make up my life. And life is good.

Happy Midsummer!