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DIY Midsummer Party

Midsummer is the celebration of the summer solstice, typically celebrated on a Friday between June 20 and June 26. The Swedish holiday, second only to Christmas, brings friends, family and Swedes together for a large celebration.

At a typical gathering, you can see people of all ages wearing homemade flower crowns and dancing around the Maypole (a pole, often decorated with flower wreaths). And just because you’re not in Sweden doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate Midsummer.

Here’s our Midsummer guide with everything you need to know to throw your own Midsummer celebration.

Midsummer Food

Since Midsummer celebrations tend to have some drinking involved, make sure you offer your guests something substantial to eat – like a heaping helping of tunnbrödsrulle. Of course, you also could whip up a more traditional feast of pickled herring and potatoes, but we like the idea of causal street food.

And no Midsummer celebration would be complete without something berry. Traditionally, a berry cake is served, which is a sponge cake with berries in between. But if you want lighter fare, try whipping up a pavlova, or a meringue cake, and top with fresh berries.

Stock up your bar with aquavit and all the mixers. We’ve pulled together three aquavit recipes that are perfect for a summery celebration.

Midsummer Décor

The main décor used for a Midsummer bash is flowers – flowers everywhere! Make floral crowns (we did, check out our video!), decorate your tables – you even could use flowers or small potted plants as party favors (great idea from Architectural Digest).

Martha Stewart also has some ideas for summer party décor, and we love what she did with throwing strings of lights in the trees.

Midsummer Entertainment

You’ll also need plenty of music, dancing and, of course, a maypole. We’ve seen some pretty elaborate maypoles, but we love this tutorial for creating a simple, elegant one. Then all you need to do is put on one of our Midsummer playlists, and you’ll be all set.