Public holidays Public holidays Holidays and celebrations in Sweden. As you will understand from the following you need to be aware of the Swedish holidays and vacations in order to function comfortably in Sweden. Most traditional festivities in Sweden still practiced have roots in the seasonal customs of it's once largely agrarian society.
Celebrations weave together strands of secular and religious origins.
August is the month when Swedes have special parties to celebrate the crayfish and the baltic herring. As the nights begin to darken after long light evenings, some Swedes decorate their balconies and terraces with pretty lanterns and serve boiled bright red crayfish and aquavit to their friends. On the third Thursday of August the years's supply of this delicacy is put on the market. People have parties featuring this fish served with crispthin hard bread, potatoes, chopped onions and beer or aquavit. The main activities of this time of the year have to do with harvesting and food gathering.