Tag: festival

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Visiting a Midsummer Festival in Norway

A Mischief Makers Face of the roleplay of a Midsummer Festival

Meeting elves, mischief makers, and a lost captain: I attended a Midsummer Festival in the city of Bodø, where I explored the rich traditions of Midsummer and the captivating story behind it.

The choir and the mischief makers in the end of the show

It was actually more like a huge coincidence that I ended up visiting the Midsummer Festival in Bodø. I was visiting the Lofoten Islands, and due to some delays of the public transport, I ended up staying an extra day in Bodø, where they happened to be celebrating a Midsummer Festival that very day. This was quite fitting, as Bodø is also the European Capital of Culture in 2024.

About the Background of Midsummer

Midsummer is a celebration particularly celebrated in the Nordic countries of Europe and the Baltic States. In Finland and Sweden, it is even a national holiday. This festival typically takes place around the Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere (June 20 or 21), celebrating the year’s longest day when the sun reaches its highest point in the sky – especially significant in Northern Europe, where the sun does not set during summer. Midsummer also traditionally represents the midpoint of the harvest season, symbolizing the welcoming of summer. Nowadays, Midsummer celebrations are always scheduled on the weekend, so the dates of the festivities are no longer fixed.

Finding True Love with Flowers

Revelers often create flower wreaths and light bonfires as part of the festivities. According to tradition, you should pick seven different flowers on your way home. If you place these flowers under your pillow, you will dream of your future love.

Three girls with floral wreaths frim the back
The captain of the roleplay for Midsummer
The captain’s ship
One man dressed up as Mischief Maker for Midsummer
Fireworks at day and a wooden beacon
One woman dressed up as Mischief Maker for Midsummer
The burning beacon for Midsummer
A group of Mischief Makers
A person dressed as a goat with a burning torch
The Mischief Makers in the audience
The Story of the Festival in Bodø

The festival in Bodø, in Norway, offered a variety of activities such as games, workshops, and food, including different types of porridge, both sweet and with sour cream. We also saw people creating and wearing their own floral wreaths.   

The captain is getting a magical potion from the mischief makers

But the highlight was the evening show that told the story of Midsummer. The story follows a captain who accidently travels through time, landing in the year of 2024 instead of 1874, the year he originally set sail. The captain is trying to find his way back to his ship and his son Edvart, who is waiting alone on the lost ship.

The captain is helped by the elf Jektenissen and meets the Mischief Makers on the way, who make him drink their magical potion. The captain does everything he can to find his way back to his ship, even setting three chimneys in fire, which represent the Sun, the Tree, and the fire goddess Sarahkka (according to Sami mythology, the most powerful icon of all). The highlight of the show was the fireworks at the end, including a burning beacon that guided the captain home to his family. Especially in combination with the singing of the choir, it showed the magical power of Midsummer.

You have read the blog post Visiting a Midsummer Festival in Norway on My Travel Journal-Blog.

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Karneval der Kulturen – celebrating diversity on Berlin’s streets

Berlin is a truly multicultural city, and this diversity is celebrated at the ‘Karneval der Kulturen’ (translated into English as ‘Carnival of Cultures’), held every May during Pentecost in Kreuzberg. The highlight of the festival is the grand parade on Sunday.

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Karneval der Kulturen in Kreuzberg

The Karneval der Kulturen (Carnival of Cultures) is a large urban festival with an open program for four days in Berlin-Kreuzberg. The festival is free and features various stalls offering a wide array of food and drinks from around the world, as well as clothes, toys, some handmade musical instruments, jewellery, and other treasures. Additionally, there is a green area and many stages where various artists and musicians present their art and music.

Large parade in the streets of Berlin

One of the highlights is the big parade on Sunday, where about 1.3 million people come together. Dance groups, musicians, and other artists celebrate and dance through the streets of Kreuzberg, from Hermannplatz to Yorckstraße/Möckernstraße, turning them into the biggest stage in Berlin. This year (2015), the parade started at 2:30 pm and ended around 9:30 pm, featuring over 70 groups. The audience can join the parade and celebrate along with them. The music was mostly techno and electro music, which Berlin is known for. The atmosphere was fantastic and the streets were full of dancing people. All streets were closed to traffic, and it felt like a massive party where the whole city was involved.

First written on Friday, May 20th, 2016, you have read the blog post Karneval der Kulturen – celebrating diversity on Berlin’s streets on My Travel Journal-Blog.