Juhannus

So what is this Finnish/Nordic fest that happens in the midsummer and when the most popular news item is the count on how many people have already drown?

Juhannus, which is also called “mittumaari” in some dialects, started as a pagan fest that was held during the summer solstice, but it changed it’s place to the 24th of June because Christians made it the birthday of John the Baptist (in Finnish he’s called Johannes kastaja, which is why Johannes, Juha, Juhani and Juho (and others) celebrate their name day that day). It was held for the god Ukko to protect the harvest and fertility, which is why many do Juhannus magic tricks that for example can show you your future spouse. You can find some of those here.

Other very common activites are - Juhannussauna - Juhannuskokko (Juhannus bonfire) - Juhannussalko (Juhannus pole) This is more common in Åland and in other Swedish-speaking areas in Finland.

Very common is also generous usage of alcohol during Juhannus and by that also drowning. This also brings up many jokes about this and general funmaking.

#It is time #It's raining but I am by the lake with my family and there's food so things are good #Midsummer #Juhannus #Finland #Finnish #Culture #Celebration