I’m pretty sure we’ve all heard about the northern lights, but have you heard about the midnight sun?
This happens during Midsummer, an amazing Finnish tradition that represents the high point of summer, taking place between the 20th and 26th of June. What started as a pagan celebration, where bonfires were burned on the occasion, as a tribute to Ukko, the god of thunder, has slowly turned into a day of party and celebration.
During my first “Juhannus” celebration, I had a midnight picnic with two of my favourite people in Turku, on a hill right next to the Aura river. We had fruit and champagne, laughed and watched the sunset after 12:00am.
Although up in the north the sun is rising even after midnight, in this part of Finland the nights are white, giving the impression of an early morning during the entire night. There’s no trace of the months of darkness we had during autumn and winter, and there’s some sort of magic floating in the air.
As a friend of mine said after seeing the pictures “What a great time to be alive”.
Blogger: Laila
