Midsommar

The word already appears in Old Swedish as miþsumar in the Västergötland law of the late 13th century. Since the 4th century the church has marked the birth of John the Baptist on 24 June, which is why Denmark and Norway call the day Sankt Hans.

One of the earliest accounts comes from Bishop Olaus Magnus in 1555: on St John's Eve, people of every age gathered in town squares and open fields to dance by the light of many bonfires. There is no evidence of a solstice festival before Christianity.

The midsummer pole, the midsommarstång, probably reached Sweden from Germany in the Middle Ages. The earliest images are in Erik Dahlbergh's Suecia antiqua from the late 17th century. In 1689 the parish of Björksäter banned the raising of poles because of the bad behaviour of the young people around them.

Today's celebration was shaped by the middle class around the mid-19th century, with dancing round a pole in the form of a leafy cross. Swedish flags as decoration were almost unknown then. Dancing to songs took off in the 1920s.

Until 1952 Midsummer Eve was always 23 June. Since 1953, to fit the working week, it has always been a Friday between 19 and 25 June.