Midsommar

Want to hang out on Midsummer?

— A kid to another

Midsummer is a holiday celebrated around the summer solstice in northern Europe. In Sweden Midsummer's Eve was celebrated on the 23rd of June until 1952, when it was changed to "the Friday during the dates of 20th to the 26th of June" to better fit in with the work week.

History

The midsummer celebration in Sweden was originally to celebrate a Christian holiday. There is no evidence that there were any pagan celebrations before then.
In Urskoga there have always been summer and winter solstice celebrations. However, since the summer solstice is after the seeds are long since planted the summer solstice was not a fertility celebration. It was a solstice celebration among the creatures of the forest.
With the arrival of humans and then a short time later Christianity the solstice celebration became a religious event where family and friends meet for food and socializing.
In 1956 a school event started. It was set at the beginning of June where the students showcased the art pieces they had made during the school year. The venue for this was the school gym, but the event became popular, and the event needed a bigger venue. They rented one of the art galleries and held the event there. But when the venue needed to close down in 1972, the event had nowhere to go. From 1973 to 1979 the event was moved to the middle of June and held in the church during the school graduation. This was not good for the event, though since there was no time for the visitors to enjoy the art. The event was moved to a bigger venue and to the two days of midsummer to give the kids something to do then as well.

Celebration

In Urskoga, during both midsummer's eve and midsummer's day the gallery is open between 11 am and 6 pm. Since midsummer's eve is still a workday for many adults the kids who are on their summer vacation head on over to the gallery to look at everyone's artwork, eat ice cream, candy, and hotdogs and show younger kids how some creative projects are made. Around 3-4 pm when the adults have left their work, they will either join the kids or go home to prepare for the afternoon. When the kids return home, the younger kids will show off what they have made, and the friends and relatives will gather for food and socializing that goes on until around 1-3am. The next day, since the adults don't work, whole families will visit the gallery and later in the afternoon the families will eat another meal together.