In Finland, the Midsummer celebrations are an outpouring of joy inspired by the brief, but powerfully intense summer. Here in the North, Mother Nature has only a few short months to harvest the light of the sun and store all the energy that she will need to carry her through the long austere winter. The summer solstice, on which the day reaches its greatest length, coincides almost exactly with Midsummer Day. In the northernmost parts of Finland, the long summer day lasts 50 on the calendar, and even down south in Helsinki the sun dips only briefly below the horizon on Midsummer night. Growth is at its most vibrant and some of the secrets of creation are unveiled.
Blood surges in young veins and it is an opportune time for maidens to polish their charms.
Midsummer has traditionally been and remains the most popular time for weddings. Midsummer is celebrated in the beautiful bosom of nature. Although more than two-thirds of the Finns nowadays live in urban settings, they migrate en masse to the countryside at Midsummer, to spend the holiday in their beloved forests and on the shores of the lakes. With nearly 200,000 lakes in the country, an almost unlimited length of shoreline and tens of thousands of lakes, everyone can find his or her own place in nature. Finland has more private holiday residences per capita than any other country, in addition to which the so-called Everyman's right guarantees a very high degree of access to the natural environment.