Midsummer in Finland, a celebration of the summer solstice, has been a very important festival since the absence of religion, especially in northern Europe, where the sunshine season is very different from the dark season. In northern Finland, midsummer is a sign that the Arctic scenery has reached its peak, where the sun hangs above the horizon all night.
Midsummer in Finland is a rural festival that people move away from towns, as they are traditionally celebrated in rural dwellings, especially in summer villas by the water. If you have to spend this festival in the town, you can buy some birch leaves and lilacs at the market to decorate the house and create a rural atmosphere. Trains, buses, and trams that run during midsummer are sometimes decorated with birch branches.
There is a wonderful legend about the origin of midsummer: in ancient Greco-Roman mythology, there was a goddess named Thérès. She sowed seeds into the world and gave them the riches of the earth: trees, flowers, grains... In order to thank the goddess Les, the people reverently sacrificed her and prayed that she would bring a good harvest to the people every year. Nowadays, people have long believed in ghosts and gods, and the stories handed down have become a folk custom.
Seurasaari Island, on the outskirts of Helsinki, Finland, is home to Finland's largest Midsummer Festival celebration. According to traditional customs, the island is decorated with young birch branches to symbolize vitality and prosperity, and many people wear ancient national costumes. Women wear hand-embroidered white shirts on the inside, sleeveless dresses with brightly colored vertical stripes, and a silk ribbon on the head; men wear white clothes and black pants, black shoulders, black top hats, black boots, waist shoulder knives, and rough temperament. On the improvised stage, singers and bands sang hard, and thousands of spectators enthusiastically cheered.
Lighting a bonfire is a top priority for Midsummer. During the day, people use old boats and branches to form large bonfires tens of meters high, while many small bonfires are stacked around them, which are all in preparation for the evening ceremony. When evening came, the crowd flocked to the campfire. The bonfire ceremony immediately begins, with people first lighting a bunch of small bonfires and selecting a newlywed couple who happen to be holding a wedding ceremony on the day to light the largest bonfire. Suddenly, the fire soared into the sky, and the light of the fire reflected the red water. At this time, the people watching from the sidelines could not help but dance, and the celebration reached its climax.
Summers in Finland are beautiful and short, and although they do regular things on fixed holidays every year, they still enjoy it.