Nordic Midsummer Traditions and the Charm of Seven Flowers

For Nordics, Midsummer is a magical time. Dancing around the bonfire, casting night spells, and gathering seven flowers to discover your future husband – sorry guys, the ladies get so much more out of Finnish Midsummer traditions.

Midsummer Day, the summer solstice, is the longest day of the year, situated at the end of June. We have here in the South of Finland only less than two hours of twilight that night. In northern Finland, at the northern end of the Northern Hemisphere, there is the Midnight Sun: the sun does not set at all on Midsummer’s Eve, making this time of year the time of light and dreams.

How to have a Nordic Midsummer Celebration in Finnish style

The Midsummer, juhannus celebrations are on the weekend between the 20th and 26th of June in Nordic Countries in Northern Europe.

In pagan times, before Christianity and the day of Saint John, from which the Finnish name “juhannus”, the Midsummer time was a celebration for Ukko, the god of the weather, to ensure good weather and a good harvest of the year. Somehow, happily, these two feasts merged, like so many other pagan and Christian celebrations have, over the years. Now in the present day, it is marked as a Christian Holiday in our calendars.

There are a few characteristic things for juhannus, the celebration of the summer solstice, and certain Midsummer party traditions that you can try out and celebrate a Nordic Midsummer the way the Finns do – and well, the Swedish Midsummer (midsommar in Swedish) is quite similar too!

1. Tie a Midsummer flower wreath and decorate a maypole

Nordic Midsummer starts with flowers. Many young girls tie a flower wreath or a flower crown. Nowadays, these are the days when Instagram feeds fill up with happy photos of girls wearing flower wreaths. You may have seen what I have posted on @blue.tea.tile, and I’m not the only Nordic girl tying a flower wreath, kukkaseppele, this time of year, I swear.

A glossary of the important Finnish words for Midsummer Celebrations.

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The Maypole or Midsummer Pole (juhannussalko) traditions are more in the west of Finland for it is a more Swedish tradition than a Finnish one. On Midsummer families put up a pole like a mast of a ship, that is fully covered and decorated with flower garlands and greenery. There is folk dancing and people with traditional costumes dance around the Maypole.

2. Dance in the Midsummer dances and festival

Juhannustanssit, the Midsummer dances, with traditional Finnish Music that gathers people of all ages. Even the younger generations have started to wait for the dances on this national holiday. These fun and joyful dances are arranged mostly in smaller villages in the Finnish countryside, or allotment gardens in the capital area. The dances and Midsummer festivities might last a long time, for the long hours of daylight encourage Finns to stay up all night.

Across Finland, Midsummer festivals come alive with open-air dance traditions and folk music, where couples dance under the soft glow of the white nights—those magical hours when the sun barely sets and the joy of summer seems endless. Celebration of light in the middle of the summer is a huge part of Finnish folklore.

3. Collect seven flowers to predict your future husband

On Midsummer Eve, Nordic girls, gather a bouquet of wild flowers to do the Midsummer charms (juhannustaiat) to find out their future husbands.

So pick up seven flowers and tie them with a lovely ribbon. There should be seven different flowers, otherwise, it won’t work! When you go to sleep, hide them under your pillow to see your future spouse in your dreams on Midsummer night. If not this year, maybe better luck next time.

Some believe that if you don’t speak when picking up the flowers and you do everything backward and jump over seven fences when picking the seven flowers you double the chances. And this is the modest version. There are stories about the love spells and magical rituals with young maiden dancing naked on the fields on a Midsummer night and looking into a well to see their future husband’s face looking lovingly.

Well – if you are desperate, go for it!

But if you are the lucky one and have a groom picked out already – get married. The Midsummer is one of the most wanted days to get married in Finland, and some couples even wait for years to have the church and venue of their dreams on this special day.

4. Celebrate with the Nordic Midsummer bonfire

With the pagan traditions, huge bonfires, juhannuskokko, are a part of Midsummer. The bonfire is traditionally made on the beach next to the water (or in some cases on the water) or an open spot, you know – safety first, though it’s a pagan ritual. When you have the fire, and if you make enough noise dancing and singing, the devil and evil spirits don’t dare to come.

5. Midsummer sauna and summer cottage

Most commonly all Finns flee from the city to their summer cottages (kesämökki), their summer houses, fo Midsummer. To be with nature, relax in the sauna, and swim, are the Nordic ways to enjoy the summer. That makes Midsummer the happiest time for the Finns. For many, Midsummer also means the start of the summer vacation and official start of warm weather, so there is no time or reason for sadness.

For the juhannussauna—our Midsummer sauna—it’s tradition in Finland to gather fresh birch branches and tie them into a vihta, a simple birch bouquet. In the steamy warmth of the sauna, we soak the vihta in water and then gently tap it against the skin. It might sound a bit intense, but it’s actually a wonderful tradition. The gentle tapping boosts circulation and fills the air with the fresh, green scent of summer birch—an essential part of the Midsummer atmosphere and Finnish culture.

6. Eat, drink, and be happy

New, freshly harvested potatoes, you know the tiny and cute new potatoes (uudet perunat), are THE thing on the Midsummer table. Enjoy the traditional Nordic foods, Finnish strawberries, fresh potatoes with some butter, fresh dill with fresh fish like herring or salmon, and you are one step closer to being a true Nordic. There is always lots of food served at the Midsummer’s feast, and everyone is having a great time. Though Finns at Midsommer are quite heavy on alcohol, on any celebrations, things like rhubarb juice and lemonade are loved summer drinks too.

Rhubarb juice in the glass with rhubarb stalks on the table and a bottle of summery rhubarb juice too.

Have I done all these at Nordic Midsummer?

Of course, I’m a Finn. Well, not the dancing naked on the field on a Midsummer night – I prefer dancing in a nightgown.