Midsommarafton and Midsommardagen together comprise one of the central holidays in the Swedish calendar. With its beginnings in ancient pagan fertility rites, Midsummer in Sweden remains tied to longstanding practices: traditionally occurring across 23 and 24 June, but now held on the Friday and Saturday which fall between 19 June and 26 June, the main festivities during Midsommarafton see dancing around a maypole, as families gather and sing songs, children jump in close imitation of frogs, and people wear crowns made of wild flowers.
I was in Skellefteå over the past weekend, and took these photographs of the city, its celebrations, Landsförsamling church, and Lejonströmsbron bridge.
[…] at the end of June and the beginning of July: we visited family in and around Skellefteå over midsummer, which I posted about briefly mid-trip; wandered the extent of Umeå, our old home, where we lived together for approaching four years; […]