When the sun comes out, so do the Swedes. They might cling to the philosophy that “there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes” for most of the year, but the thought of June, July and August is really what gets them through the long and dark winter.

Two sides of Swedish summer. Photo: Bridge Ribersborg / Image Bank Sweden (left); Jens Randecker / Image Bank Sweden (right)

If you’re an international student, you probably spent most of May cooped up indoors studying for your final exams. June brings the opportunity to explore your host country at its best, whether for a few days or the entire summer. The summer months also offer the chance to partake in pickled herring and schnapps at a traditional Midsummer celebration in June, or wear funny hats and chomp on crustaceans at a crayfish party in August.

Celebrate the summer solstice

The weather might not always cooperate, but Midsummer marks the official start of the Swedish summer. It’s always held on the weekend closest to June 24. The festivities include traditional folk costumes, dancing around a maypole and a meal of pickled herring, boiled new potatoes with fresh dill, followed by strawberries – and of course, all the schnapps you can drink.

Although celebrations can be found in most cities – such as at Skansen in Stockholm and Slottsskogen in Gothenburg – some of the most authentic Midsummer festivities are in the province of Dalarna in central Sweden. Deniz Kaynar, a Turkish student who did his engineering master’s at Dalarna University in Borlänge, says the local Midsummer activities allowed him to experience a different side of Swedish culture.

“Before that, I had lived in Sweden for a year and I hadn’t seen anything typically Swedish in terms of culture,” he says. “At Midsummer you feel like you are back in the 18th century.”


Midsummer merriment around the maypole. Photo: Peter Westrup / Image Bank Sweden

Kaynar adds that Dalarna has a lot to offer in terms of outdoor activities. “Dalarna has great nature. You can enjoy the lakes and sunbathe. I come from a warm country, and before coming here, I couldn’t even imagine that you could swim in such cold water.”    

But Anna Rzewuska, a Polish student who studied Scandinavian studies at Mälardalens Högskola in Västerås, has a word of warning for any potential Midsummer revelers: bring a jacket!

“The weather here is not always summer-like at Midsummer,” she says. “My first Midsummer ‘fest’ wasn’t exactly the warmest. It was 8 degrees Celsius, yet all of the Swedes insisted on partying outside.” 

Arctic adventures

Dalarna is not the only place to get your fill of the great outdoors. Petr Váňa, a Czech student doing a master’s in space science in Kiruna, says it’s just a matter of choosing what you want to do. He’s an avid cyclist.

“I brought a bike up here with me,” he says. “This place is really good for mountain biking because you have the rocky terrain, and you can find some great trails. You can just go, go, go and there’s nothing but wilderness.”

Lappland is a mecca for outdoor enthusiasts. Photo: Josefin Olevik / Image Bank Sweden

He also likes to climb. “There is a local climbing club in Kiruna and there are some really nice guys and girls who you can climb with. Then you can go to Narvik in Norway, which is the best climbing in Scandinavia, and there’s also Kebnekaise [Sweden’s highest mountain]. For the first few weeks of summer after school, I’m staying here with some guys. We want to go up to the top of Kebnekaise. Some of us haven’t done mountain climbing before, but the ascent is quite easy for beginners. We also want to take a bike and ride on a section of the Kungsleden trail, maybe from Abisko.”

One of Váňa’s classmates, Gerrit Holl from the Netherlands, says the proximity to nature has provided a necessary distraction to his studies. The midnight sun – which in the far north of Sweden never dips below the horizon from the end of May to the middle of July – makes it particularly difficult to stay indoors.

“It doesn't matter when you go out – it is always light,” Gerrit says. “No need to hurry, no need to be home in time for darkness. If you want to, you can spend all night hiking, cycling or just sitting at the river reading a book. It is a magical feeling to be outside at 10pm, 11pm, midnight, 1 am, 2 am, and see how the late evening is slowly changing into the early morning.”  

Mudbugs and mushrooms

American Kerri Arsenault, a master’s student in Communication for Development at Malmö University, had the chance to partake in a strange ritual last August. “One of my most memorable Swedish moments was when we were invited to our Swedish friend's summer house where we celebrated the August crayfish (mudbugs, our friend called them) madness!” she says.


Savor crayfish in late August. Photo: Erika Lidén

She and her husband were invited to the dinner by friends of their neighbors, and they didn’t know anyone but their hosts. “We were strangers embarking on a strange and wonderful tradition that consisted of eating crayfish, cheese pie, drinking schnapps, and singing songs until the sun rose again the next morning.”

Kerri says when they arrived, there were “bowls and bowls of bright red crayfish and at least a dozen friendly Swedes. Everyone dived into the giant metal bowls... And though the conversation was animated, everyone still had to concentrate on extracting the sweet meat from the tiny crayfish. I am from Maine and thought it would be like cracking open a lobster, except smaller, but I was wrong. Getting the meat out of the crayfish was more akin to delicate brain surgery.”


Mushroom hunting. Photo: Kerri Arsenault

The next day, they participated in another traditional summer pastime. “[Our friend], armed with a wicker basket and some shears, announced we were all going mushroom hunting… I thought: this would never happen back home – a group trekking through the woods to find fungus.”

No matter what you choose to do in Sweden during the summer, make the most of it — at least that’s what the Swedes do. The same people who claim “there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes” also like to say “a life without love is like a year without summer.”

Links

Visit Sweden — Sweden’s official website for travel & tourism information
Community of Sweden — Web community about travel in Sweden 
Create your own Swedish Midsummer party — Article on Sweden.se
Celebrating the Swedish way / Midsummer — Article on Sweden.se
Celebrating Swedish Midsummer on skis — Article on Sweden.se

Charlotte West

Charlotte West is an American writer and editor living in Stockholm. She'll be spending the summer island hopping in the Stockholm archipelago.