Midsummer

Ah, Midsummer. The second biggest holiday in Sweden (after Christmas) and the one I had been eagerly wanting to experience for the past six years. I know, quite the buildup right? And so far in life I've learnt that the bigger the expectation, the bigger the fall. So to ensure that disappointment didn't swallow me whole on this most gracious day, I tried to lower my anticipation and just tried to enjoy it as best as I could. 

We opted for simplicity and decided to follow my boyfriend's family to Bonnstan (the old Church Town) to watch the celebrations. I wanted a real, authentic feel of what this day was really about and I have to say that it was as traditional as it gets, with the big pole in the center, a lot of singing and, of course, dancing. 

Midsummer is all about greeting the arrival of summer, whilst celebrating life, light and fertility on the longest day of the year. Originally, nature was seen has having special powers that would ensure good health throughout the cold winters. That is why people still gather flowers and leaves to create flower crowns. The traditions are many, with many attached origins. It is also customary to eat herring with new potatoes, drink schnapps and make desserts out of strawberries (I only partly followed those). But what really captured me during this first festivity, was how vibrant it all was. The colors seemed more alive than ever, the blue sky contrasting with the bright green of the grass. What struck me the most was how everyone seemed happy and excited to be outside, enjoying something that brought them together. Even the old town, usually so empty and silent, was transformed by all the open cottages and the laughter coming out of them. Every corner and every path was bursting with movement and energy. And I loved it, I hoped it would never end. 

It was a very special day for me, one that I'm sure I will always remember fondly as the first Midsummer of my life. It was a bit frantic at times, with so much movement, people and their dogs walking around in the sun or sitting on the grass eating ice cream, but I thrive in that environment. As if having a crowd of people around me makes me feel safer, more alive. It is like I exist even more in those moments. So my pictures might not be great and the backgrounds might be flawed, but I really wanted to capture everything I witnessed and a bit of the vitality that I felt on that morning. I walked around with my camera and these are the moments I gathered. 

Afterward, we went home to have a lovely and delicious dinner cooked by my boyfriend's grandma. I tried a bit of the herring (not too sure about it) and although I didn't get to the schnapps, we did have this amazing strawberry cake to finish the festival with. The sun stayed out until I went to bed, and, overall I couldn't have asked for a more magical evening. My heart was warm and heavy, in the best ways. Thank you Sweden, you did not disappoint!