Midsummer Festival

The Midsummer Festival is a ‘’’celebration of the sun and the ripening harvest.’’’ It occurs in the summer during the solstice, the longest day of the year when the sun is at its strongest and the light is at its brightest, and begins that evening and continues on until dusk the next day.’’’ It is a celebration of strength and vitality, a celebration of life.’’’ During it, many different games are played, along with singing and dancing, and large bonfires that burn all through the night are customary. There is also a variety of food and drink, though honey mead is the traditional drink.

‘’’However, there is a dark side to this festival, both symbolically and literally.’’’ Because it is the summer solstice and the sun is at its peak, this signifies that the days will only become darker from then on out as fall and, ultimately, winter approaches.

Similarly, in older times there used to be human sacrifice as a tribute to the local fae, but it has since been replaced by animal sacrifice. During the solstice, livestock is sacrificed, its flesh roasted for the feast and its bones burned in huge bonfires that light up the night.

Instead of the human sacrifice of olden days, ‘’’straw effigies in the shape of a human are also a big part of the festival.’’’ Customarily, they are made by the village children who construct them, paint them, and decorate them with flowers. The night of the Midsummer celebration, their parents instruct them to leave the effigies in their beds before they go out to the bonfire, in the hopes that the fae will steal the effigies instead of their children.

The Midsummer celebration is an especially exciting time for children, as it means that they get to stay up all night long with the adults and no one will tell them to go to bed.