Midsummer

Yesterday, there was the 'leaf market' in Karlskrona. It is a very big market which is traditionally held on the day before midsummer's eve. Apart from the usual stuff that is sold at markets all over Europe (toys, wallets, hamburgers, some clothes), they sell a lot of strawberries and cherries as well as flowers. Only today did we understand why....

Yesterday also, there was a notice in the harbour office that one could participate in the midsummer celebrations. On enquiry, it transpired that we would be taken by car to Ronneby and from there by boat to Karön where we would join in the midsummer festivities of the local community. The person responsible for the Karlskrona marina also runs the Ronneby harbours, which explains the setup.

This morning, the weather was not very inviting (rainy and 13C in the cabin!), but we decided that if it was good enough for the Swedes it would be good enough for us. We were the only two takers from the marina and we went by car to Ronneby, about 20 minutes away. And then by a little ferry to Käron (we stopped there 2 years ago with Onbekommerd when we were in this area!)

After a while,  more and more people arrived on the island and they started to make preparations around the 'midsummer pole'. The men tied the branches to the pole and the ladies and the children made the garlands which end up being tied to the 'arms'. Then the pole is raised, we thought this might be with some ceremony, but it was not:

Until this moment, it had been dry, but unfortunately at that point the rain started coming down. A lot of families had set up picknicks on the lawn and the hastily retreated under the trees and put up umbrellas:

That was a pity, but it did not seem to dampen the spirits a lot. There was music too and the children did some dancing around the pole, in very clearly defined ways. Unfortunately with the rain, it was not really possible to get close and take pictures and also the dancing was not as festive as it undoubtedly would be in fine weather.

At this stage, our host (the harbour master), invited us in for a traditional midsummer lunch:

Extremely nice bread, cheese, herring, eggs and the strawberries and cherries (not pictured) we saw on the market.

And the flowers? Well, they adorned the heads of the little girls (and some of the ladies too).

To celebrate this festival, which is very important in Sweden, in such way with your community is really something! And we felt privileged to be able to be there as the only foreigners!



We are not sure yet what we will do tomorrow. The winds will be light, but there will be some rain. We would like to go to Kristianopel, but it might be full for midsummer (the festivities will last another day, but more in family surroundings). We'll see.