Maria writes, “Some memories from our very traditional midsummer in Dalarna.” That’s in Sweden. Erik or Margareta, care to explain what we see here?
I learned this much on the web:
“Ask a Swede what the most important holiday of the year is and Midsummer will come up as often as Christmas. Get older Swedes talking and their eyes will well up as they reminisce about community spirit, songs, barn dancing and the mystical atmosphere surrounding the Midsummer gatherings of their youth. Sure, there was a lot of drinking, fistfights and frolicking, but everyone shook hands in the end. For younger generations, Midsummer is mainly about heading out to the summer cottage and celebrating with a group of friends or family.” There’s more at the site Sweden.se, here.
Suzanne's Mom's Blog 
The pictures are from a traditional Swedish “Midsommar” event in Dalarna during which the “Midsommarstång” (“Maypole”) is raised to celebrate the longest day of the year. The event brings together families that dance around the Maypole accompanied by traditional Swedish fiddle music.
For those on the US East Coast that are interested, and would like to experience the event themselves, the 3rd largest annual Midsummer event takes place 3rd friday of June every year in Battery Park, New York, NY: https://www.facebook.com/events/464340856974674/
Thanks, Beagling. In college, we had our maypole on May Day, part of a spring fertility rite originally. When my mother was a student, oxen from Vermont walked the maypoles to Pennsylvania, starting early in the year. Of course there were cars and trucks then, but it was all part of going overboard on tradition. In spite of having rehearsals, we never managed to do a neat job with the in and out weaving of the streamers. BTW, my window overlooked the lawn where the maypoles were, and invariably the last day of April, marauding Haverford students would charge one maypole and carry it off. The splitting wood made a horrible sound.
It is the light during the night which is “Midsommar” for me. It is very difficult fo me to experience this feeling in other places than in the countryside in the middle or the northen part of Scandinavia. The “Midsommar-stång” is only a symbol like Christmas tree.
It must be a very pure light, being so far from cities and other generators of smog. Thanks for commenting, Stuga40. (Your granddaughter told me in her sweet little English accent that “stuga” means “cottage.”)