Polish midsummer

                                                                       a magical night worth experiencing

For Swedish people, midsummer is one of the most beloved holidays of the year.

It happens at the end of June - during the lightest night of the summer - when the sun never seems to set.

All around the country we gather around a maypole, dance silly dances to traditional Swedish folklore music. I can guarantee it looks quite funny in the eyes of the foreign visitor! 😄

At night, the women then collect seven different flowers and put them under our pillow – believing that the boy/man that appears in our dreams will be our future love 🌷🌼🌹🌻🌺🌸🌾

When we were interrailing and couchsurfing across Eastern Europe, we were thrilled to discover that our stay in Kraków coincided with their midsummer celebration – that has a lot in common with our Swedish rituals. Together with our host family we decided to organise a Polish/Swedish midsummer feast. While we brought our addition to the dinner table – cured salmon, egg halves with caviar and meatballs – our host family added Polish pierogi, kielbasa (sausage), Chlodnik (red beet soup) and salad.

Midsummer is also celebrated in Poland, though not nearly as widely or uniformly as in Sweden. Here it's called Noc Świętojańska, and just like back home, it's celebrated on the year's longest night – in Poland called Kupala Night – symbolizing fertility and the summer solstice. Bonfires are lit everywhere, and flower wreaths are woven, which the women wear on their heads. According to Polish tradition, boys should jump over the fire as a test of manhood, to prove their strength and courage in front of the girls. The wreaths are cast into the water, to be retrieved by the boys – and the girl whose wreath he picks is believed to become his beloved. This part of the celebration is called Wianki.

Do you want to know more about our trip? Read here

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