On the Thursday night that falls between 18 and 24 June each year, cities all over Sweden go quiet. Stockholm’s elegant and bustling streets are empty. Traffic builds on the motorway outside Gothenburg as locals head for the islands. That’s when the Swedish countryside calls its people back for a festival celebrating seasonal dishes, fertility and the longest day of the year, held on the Friday closest to the summer solstice. This enchanted event is called Midsummer Eve.
“In history, the night before Midsummer Day was one of the year’s eight magic nights where you could predict the future, and a sort of magic window to the future was open,” said Richard Tellström, an author and expert in Swedish food culture. “You could see, if you were lucky, who you were going to marry. So, Midsummer Eve was a party time for youngsters, not elderly people. Historically, there was a big haymaking feast, important for all people living in the countryside before the 1930s, and today that party has merged with the Midsummer festivities.”
Dispatches From The Front 