Midsummer

The Arabic word for Midsummer is 3iidu muntaSafi S-Sayfi.

The word for Midsummer is an idafa construction that literally means feast of middle of the summer. The Arabic words for fest, middle and summer are listed below.

Friday, June 24 this year is Midsummer's Eve. Midsummer's Eve always occurs on a Friday.

We celebrate on Midsummer's Eve. The day after is called Midsummer's Day. Many people will probably wake up late that day :)

Food for Midsummer

On Midsummer, we eat potatoes.

Of course, we eat potatoes often in Sweden. However, in Midsummer it gets a little more festive because the first potatoes of the year have been harvested.

When we boil the potatoes, we add dill to the water.

On Midsummer, we also eat fish.

Not any fish though, in Midsummer we eat herring.

And not any herring, the Swedish Midsummer tradition is to eat pickled herring.

With the potatoes and the pickled herring, we eat sour cream that is mixed with chives.

Even though I am Swedish, I have never dared to taste pickled herring. On the other hand, I love strawberries. Eating strawberries is also a Swedish Midsummer tradition.

Alcohol on Midsummer

To the Midsummer food, we drink snaps, which is alkohol in a very small glass.

When we drink, we sing drinking songs.

Many Swedes drink too many glasses of alcohol in Midsummer and become very drunk.

When people are drunk, quarrels easily occur.

Some people are so stupid that they drive cars and boats even though they are drunk. In addition to that, there are more cars on the roads on Midsummer. Therefore, the number of incidents increases on Midsummer.

Flowers for Midsummer

Flowers are very important on Midsummer.

We pick flowers.

We decorare the maypole with flowers. In Swedish, we call the maypole 'midsommarstång' which means midsummer pole. In Arabic, the word for maypole literally means pole of feast of middle of the summer.

We tie a wreath of flowers and place it on our heads.