By Karolina Toka
Under the Midnight Sun, two women dressed in traditional folk costumes prepare what in Swedish is called the midsommarstång – a tall wooden maypole decorated with fresh green birch branches, standing at the very heart of the Swedish Midsummer celebration. The pole is wrapped in a thick red ribbon and looks truly impressive. Exactly at noon, the maypole is ready and officially raised in front of the gathered crowd. It’s welcomed with applause. A local band steps onto the stage and begins playing traditional folk music. Adults and children instantly start forming circles around it, holding hands and dancing to playful songs.
Meanwhile, I head off to make my own flower wreath, just like almost everyone else celebrating around me.
Dancing Around the Maypole: A Beloved Swedish Tradition
Midsummer is Sweden’s most beloved traditional celebration, marking the summer solstice and the arrival of the longest days of the year. The main festivities take place on Midsummer’s Eve, celebrated on the Friday between 19 and 25 June. People of all ages gather in parks, villages, and open meadows dressed in floral wreaths and light summer clothing – something that, after many cold months, finally feels like a celebration in itself.
Skansen Hägnan in Luleå, where I attend this year’s local celebrations, is absolutely packed. As traditional folk music drifts through the air and my floral wreath finally settles on my head, I follow an irresistible aroma and join the queue for smoked herring. It is served with traditional flatbread, potatoes, and fresh dill. Alongside it, I receive lingonberry juice and a warm smaklig måltid (enjoy your meal in Swedish), a small but charming reminder of the local hospitality that defines the day. Even though I am not from here and speak little Swedish, I feel genuinely welcomed and at home.
I follow the crowd and sit down on a blanket in the shade of a birch tree gently swaying in the wind. While eating the traditional Midsummer herring, I overhear a guide passing by with a group of international visitors, as he explains the history of Midsummer.
The holiday originates from ancient pre-Christian solstice traditions, when Northern European communities marked the longest day of the year as a celebration of peak light, fertility, and nature’s abundance. After long, dark winters, summer was welcomed with joy and relief. As most Swedes were farmers at the time, it was a moment to honour the sun that has been vital for crops and animals, and to gather flowers and herbs believed to hold protective and healing powers.
Over time, these early rituals evolved into a national tradition celebrating the return of light and the promise of long, bright summer days ahead.
When Day Never Ends: The Arctic Summer Experience
Here, above the Arctic Circle, Midsummer coincides with the phenomenon of the Midnight Sun. During the peak summer months of June and July, the sun never fully sets, filling the Arctic landscape with continuous golden light. This endless daylight transforms time itself, making outdoor life possible around the clock.
As golden light lingers through the night, the boundary between day and night dissolves, leaving you with an incredible sense of possibility. Nothing feels fixed. Time slows down. Nature feels awake. It becomes easy to understand why people have gathered to celebrate this moment for hundreds of years.
For travellers seeking authentic experiences, Midsummer offers something truly special. Thoughtful travel design is about creating journeys that connect people with the places they visit through landscapes, traditions, and shared experiences. Almost every town and city hosts its own celebration, and if you travel during the summer solstice, it is an experience you should not miss. Few places do it quite like Sweden.
But perhaps the greatest gift of the Arctic Midsummer is the surrender to the Midnight Sun. Imagine stepping outside long after midnight into a world bathed in an eternal, golden twilight. You sit by a mirror-calm lake, watching the sun brush the edge of the earth, only to rise again without ever having set. Here, time dissolves entirely. Sleeping by day, hiking under a luminous night sky, and diving into cool waters at dawn invites you into a wild, weightless freedom that exists nowhere else on Earth.
Midsummer in the Nordics is an invitation to witness one of nature’s greatest spectacles. It’s a time to share in traditions that have united generations, chasing the horizon under a sun that refuses to set. Summer in the Arctic transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary. The endless daylight creates an atmosphere that is simultaneously energising and deeply soothing, leaving you with a quiet sense of wonder that lingers long after you return home.
