Here in Scandinavia we will celebrate Midsummer tomorrow. I'm not sure exactly how it's celebrated in the neighbouring countries, but in Sweden we:

* Eat lots of food, especially herring. Smörgåsbord - which is a variety of sandwiches and other things - is also quite common (yes, the English word smorgasboard is borrowed from Swedish).

* Drink a lot. Mostly snaps/nubbe with different flavours, which is pure alcohol served in tiny glasses.

* Dance silly dances like "Little Frogs" around the Maypole.

* Wear wreaths made of flowers on our heads.

* Play silly drunken games like Sack Race, Pass the Orange and Bite the Apple in the Barrel.

* The night before you're supposed to pick seven different flowers and put them under your pillow. Then the following night you will dream about the person you will one day marry.

As you can tell, it's all very heathen.



What local holidays or festivities do you have, and how do you celebrate them?

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Tonight, everywhere in France, it's La fête de la musique (Music Celebration Day). So, everywhere in the streets,walksides, boulevards, cafés, clubs, houses, arenas, etc, there will be music

retina, your festivites are very bucolics

That's adorable! And sounds so fun!

The City of Minneapolis throws a 10 day festival in July every year called the Minneapolis Aquatennial. There are a BUNCH of activities, but from the website this sums it up:

2007 MINNEAPOLIS AQUATENNIAL
Welcome to the 68th Minneapolis Aquatennial, the "Official Civic Celebration of Minneapolis". Each year, more than 800,000 people celebrate the City of Lakes during the third week of July. Please join us for Minnesota's largest parade and free outdoor concert, the fourth largest fireworks show in the U.S., our amazing milk carton boat races and sandcastle building competition, the world's largest purse triathlon, our neighborhood park BBQ's and so much more. We are fun for all ages, from the young to the young at heart. Grab some sunscreen and come join us!


The Hennepin Avenue block party is probably my fave part of this and it's an exteremely large block party where several blocks of downtown Mpls are closed off and there are strett vendors and all sorts of yummy food and there are local and national bands/artists playing outside for free. The biggest year, I think, was when the Smashing Pumpkins played at the height of their popularity. It was insane!

I tried to find pics of the milk carton races, but I can't right now. They are a hoot!

San Juan Bonfires Fiesta the night between the 23rd and 24th of June

You guessed it! Bonfires and fireworks by the beach


Midnightswimming (supposed to take all your pains away, it's a magical night after all)

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[Edited 6/21/07 5:37am]

jizzinparis said:

Awesome. I love all the French music festivals, and there seems to be so many of them! Every time I'm on holiday on the Cote D´Azur there's a performance in every town. Haute de Cagnes for example has great little jazz festivals and it's so nice to sit there and look at the view and listen to the music. In fact, I'm going to do just that in July.



Are you calling our festivals bollocks?

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[Edited 6/21/07 5:46am]

Now that I'm thinking about it... I think one of the things I like best about Minneapolis is just how alive the city becomes in the summer. I don't think there's a weekend from June through August where there isn't a block party, street fair or festivel somehwere in the city and every single one includes live music. And some weekends there are several to choose from.

CarrieMpls said:

That's so cool. Do you ever participate?



I love street markets. I can browse through them for hours.



I heard that they're reunited, is that true? In one way that would be good since they were a great band, but in another way it's too bad because quitting at the peak of their career like they did made them legendary. I wouldn't want them to spoil that memory.

retina said:

Yes, Côte D'Azur is very famous for that

Well, your festivities are very charming dude

PANDURITO said:

I'm not too into fireworks (they all look the same to me) but I absolutely love bonfires! They create a magical atmosphere.



It takes your pains away permanently if you're drunk when you do it, I'm sure.

I'm always up for a midnight swim but few others are (maybe because the water is cold at night here for most of the summer) so maybe I should head over to Spain.

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FESTIVUS!

jizzinparis said:

You should be here on Lucia, when tall blonde women wearing long white gowns and crowns fitted with candles sing gentle songs.

DaniDaniBoBani said:

...which is?

retina said:

You don't remember Festivus?????

http://www.youtube.com/wa...aeQz5HwfoI

DaniDaniBoBani said:

Hmm, I could never give up my Ms Santa addiction so I'll stay away from that one.

retina said:

I'm hungover retina. I never feel like this. Also. I pee'd in a bar last night that had a SHOWER CURTAIN as a door. Ugh.

DaniDaniBoBani said:

It sounds like they knew ahead of time what you were going to do. Interesting festivities indeed...

Drink plenty of water. That's the only cure. Unfortunately it'll lead to more peeing.

DaniDaniBoBani said:

That's sounds like a festival in itself.

CarrieMpls said:

Hey, you're supposed to answer my questions!

plural edit
[Edited 6/21/07 6:18am]

CarrieMpls said:

I'm just trying to figure out what to do with myself now. I think I'm coming down with something.

retina said:

I've never done the milk boat races or the sand castle thing, it's serious, serious competition!

I found pics here:

http://www.aquatennial.co...Boat-Races


And yeah, the Pumkins are back together. I'm actually seeing them in Toronto in September at the Virgin Fest. I'm not sure how i feel about it either.

CarrieMpls said:

So you have done the purse triathlon? Why am I not surprised?

Pictures please.

retina said:

I don't even know what a purse triathalon is.

CarrieMpls said:

But if it had been called a "fancy shoe triathlon", then I bet you'd have been number one on the starting list, regardless of what it was.

Juneteenth just passed, over here...

mochalox said:

What is that? How do you celebrate it?

retina said:

http://www.juneteenth.com

mochalox said:

Can't you tell me about it instead, what your personal experiences of it are, what you like the most about it is, etc?

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retina said:

It celebrates the day the slaves in TX found out they were free. They were legally freed 2 years prior, but due to many circumstances (there weren't enough Union troops there to enforce it), they didn't "find out" until 2 years after-the-fact. For decades it was the only holiday that African-Americans were allowed to celebrate at all.
It is celebrated outdoor-festival-style with musical acts, dancing, food and speakers. Typically the speakers will attempt to raise consciousness about the state of the African and/or African-American citizen.

mochalox said:

Okay, thanks! It's definitely a serious theme for a festival. Does that affect people's mood and thoughts, or do most people just go there for the party?

Looks fun!!