Celebrating Midsummer

Midsummer is something we have been celebrating for the last ten years. You can go all out with friends and family or you can have a quiet little celebration at home. We tend to go for the latter, as to us it’s another point in the year to slow down and be present in the moment and notice the shifting of the seasons, whilst appreciating all the gifts nature has to offer.

Midsummer is the day right in the middle of Summer, the longest day of the year (Summer Solstice), and is celebrated on different dates in different cultures. In the UK the longest day typically falls on 20th or 21st June but in Europe Midsummer is traditionally celebrated on the 24th of June – this discrepancy in dates is believed to be due to the changing of calendars from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar.

Traditionally people celebrated with feasting, drinking, big fires and dancing. In the Stone Age it was believed to be a fertility ritual, and the Pagans believed that in the night when the sun turned towards the southern hemisphere spirits could cross the vail and the bonfires were used to ward off the evil spirits.

In the 4th Century Christianity ‘took’ the holiday and it became known as St John the Baptist’s birthday and was traditionally celebrated by bathing in water the night before to purify oneself. Germany had their own rituals at this time that would then be adopted in Sweden and are now the traditions we most commonly associate with Midsummer festivities.

We choose to celebrate with a long walk, out in the woods if possible. Collecting wildflowers is a really fun activity and I’ve always wanted to make a Midsummer crown of wildflowers – keep an eye on our Instagram to see if I finally make one this year! We then enjoy a home-cooked meal, normally involving homemade bread with a simple soup or salad and fresh fruit to finish. We ensure that our meal is seasonal and full of fruits and vegetables. If the weather allows it we like to eat outside in the garden (before children we’d often take a picnic out in the late evening) and light the fire pit. Dancing and singing around the fire pit is completely optional but a few beers seem to help people along the way in that department.

We also use it as a chance to really look at our outdoor space and how it works for us. How are our vegetables coming along, would we like more fruit trees, does the space work well for the children, is there anything else we can do to make our inside space flow more into our outside space etc. While this is the longest day of light for us it is also the start of the warmer weather and the beginning of three months of (hopefully) hot days. During this season we spend most of our time outside, Paul even works outside where possible, so it’s nice to have an evening enjoying the world around us and looking at simple ways to make it more accomodating to our needs.

Do you celebrate Midsummer? If yes, we’d love to know how, so please leave us a comment or tag us over on Instagram @foxandlockes.

Happy celebrating,

Livvy and Summer