SVENSKARNAS DAG (SWEDISH HERITAGE DAY)

Every year on the last Sunday in June, shortly after Midsummer’s Day, the people with Swedish heritage celebrate at Minnehaha Park. In 2011 they celebrated the 78th year with one of the largest Swedish celebrations in the U. S. The day begins with a church service, followed by singing and dancing performances by local and visiting Scandinavian groups, and includes the crowning of a Midsummer’s Queen for the Minneapolis Aquatennial Celebration held in July. The Midsummer Pole is put for attendees to dance around and celebrate the longest day of the year. The event includes art and craft vendors and of course food vendors offering tastes of the delectable Swedish foods including a complete Swedish Meatball dinner with potatoes and lingonberries. Saffron buns, herring and pepparkaka are also available to sample. We decided to check it out in 2011, just out of curiosity, to see if it was different from Norway Day. The food was slightly different but interesting and we sampled the meatball dinner sponsored by the Swedish girl’s choir. It was quite an experience to see the Midsummer’s Pole decorated with fresh flowers which is a tradition dating back to the Vikings Era and is still celebrated in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland along with many European countries with large bonfires and food, of course. It is most likely a celebration of more importance in the Scandinavian countries because of their ties to the Vikings and the fact they have the longest days on Midsummer’s Eve due to their northerly locations, thus the term ”The Land of the Midnight Sun". So if you are Swedish or have any Scandinavian heritage, I highly recommend experiencing Svenskarnas Dag to celebrate Midsummer’s Day.