Each Nordic country has its own unique traditions and ways to celebrate the arrival of summer. This season makes its presence felt with a (sometimes modest) rise in the mercury, frequent bright sunshine during the day and a long, drawn-out twilight best enjoyed beside a campfire on the shore of a pristine lake. By now, the foliage is lush and verdant, with flowers in full bloom. Insects appear too, although in smaller crowds than you might be used to elsewhere, with the exception of the cursed midge, which plagues visitors to the countryside with their maddening buzz and pesky bites. ?
The further north you go, the subtler the signs of summer grow. The trees don鈥檛 reach quite the same height as their more southerly neighbours. In southern Scandinavia, for example, the climate is hot enough for orchards of apple and pear trees, whereas north of the Arctic Circle the only obvious hints of summer鈥檚 arrival might be slightly greener grass and slightly less snow.
That鈥檚 unless you鈥檙e a bird fan, of course. In Iceland a favourite harbinger of spring (often hard to distinguish from summer in this part of the world) is the 濒贸补 or (Pluvialis apricaria). Every year it migrates south to north from as far afield as the north coast of Africa before landing in Iceland to breed. Its arrival signals the onset of lighter evenings and better weather.
An escape from the city
But how do the people themselves spend their summers? There are some commonalities to be found across all Nordic nations: abundant, aggressive barbecuing; the donning of shorts in weather deemed far too cold for this elsewhere; swimming in the lakes or sea; and the annual retreat to the summerhouse (known in Danish as a sommerhus, Swedish as a sommarstuga or fritidshus, Icelandic as a 蝉耻尘补谤丑煤蝉 or 蝉耻尘补谤产煤蝉迟补冒耻谤, Norwegian as a hytte and Finnish as a 办别蝉盲尘枚办办颈).
With international travel off the cards for most of this summer, the stage is set for a massive boom in domestic tourism in many countries where restrictions are being eased. This is perhaps somewhat more popular already in the Nordics than elsewhere due to high summerhouse ownership rates, having access to a hytte, for example. Countries like Iceland are heavily reliant on international tourism in the summer months, and a massive . The lack of tourists has also led to the country鈥檚 oldest tourist-focused magazine, Iceland Review, for the very first time since it started in 1963.
Of course, not everyone is fortunate enough to have a summerhouse at their disposal. Luckily there exists a strong tradition of wild camping in the Nordic countries. The or 鈥渆veryman鈥檚 right鈥 (Finnish: jokamiehenoikeus, Icelandic: 补濒尘补苍苍补谤茅迟迟耻谤, Norwegian: allemannsrett, Swedish: 补濒濒别尘补苍蝉谤盲迟迟别苍) entitles visitors to cross private land and in many instances pitch a tent for one or two nights. Similar rights exist in Czechia, Estonia, Scotland and some German-speaking countries. This democratic principle makes beauty spots accessible to everyone regardless of who owns the land, and means you鈥檙e not crammed into a campsite with other tourists. ?
When it鈥檚 safe and permitted to do so, we should take a leaf out of the Nordic countries鈥 book and use this summer to explore the corners of our own country that we might never have visited before. Of course, bear in mind local coronavirus-related restrictions. In some rural areas, there are concerns about influxes of domestic tourists overburdening local emergency services. Let鈥檚 travel responsibly, and only once we鈥檝e got the go-ahead from our local government.
Don鈥檛 let the barbecue go out
Perhaps unexpectedly given the climate for the majority of the year, outdoor barbecues are extremely popular in the Nordics. Many people have gas grills at home, as well as a smaller charcoal-fuelled barbecue for use on holiday or ute i naturen (鈥渙ut in the nature鈥). Almost anything goes: veggies, frankfurters, burgers, steaks, entire racks of ribs or maybe a whole side of salmon are all fair game. Seafood is normally a safe bet as the quality is excellent (and if you鈥檙e barbecuing on the beach, it just makes sense doesn鈥檛 it?).
The main event at this time of year in many of the Nordic countries is midsummer, which marks the summer solstice (the point in the year when the days start getting shorter once again). Danes and Norwegians celebrate what they call sankthansaften (St John鈥檚 Eve) with a big bonfire on the beach on 23 June. In Finland, the same tradition takes place on聽箩耻丑补苍苍耻蝉听(鈥淛ohn the Baptist鈥檚 holiday鈥) between 20 and 26 June. In pre-Christian times, the celebration was called聽Ukon juhla (鈥淯kko鈥檚 celebration鈥), honouring the Finnish god of the sky and weather. Sweden has a slightly different take on things, with its midsommar consisting of a dance around a flower-studded maypole. This became the basis for a of the same name, released last year.
Towards the end of the summer, Swedes and Swedish-speaking Finns will often throw a 办谤盲蹿迟蝉办颈惫补 or 鈥渃rayfish party鈥. ? Despite to promote their frozen crayfish in store, the tradition doesn鈥檛 seem to have taken off more widely. The occasion originates in an early 20th-century Swedish law restricting crayfish harvesting to the end of August. Despite the legal restriction no longer being in place, the tradition stuck and . They鈥檙e traditionally cooked in salted brine with a whole head of dill.
For most of us, summer this year will look quite different from those of years past. In all of the Nordic countries except Sweden, which took a radically different approach to handling the pandemic, the coronavirus peak and restrictions have been relaxed, meaning the retreat en masse to the countryside will take place in much the same way as it always has, perhaps with slightly boosted numbers due to less travel abroad.
The rest of us are anxious to get out of our homes and for a change of scenery. The key to enjoying this summer will be simplicity: casual barbecues shared with family, evening bonfires on the beach with friends and appreciating the louder-than-usual birdsong before it鈥檚 once again drowned out by traffic noise. Of course, depending on where we live, we鈥檒l have to wait a bit longer before all of that is possible 鈥 but just think of those long, lazy Nordic nights as your light at the end of the tunnel. ?
