Every year on April 30th, Sweden welcomes springtime by celebrating Valborg. In communities all over Sweden, Valborg is celebrated with speeches, choirs singing songs about spring and a huge bonfire. May 1st is a national holiday (the equivalent to America’s Labor Day) so partying following the bonfire can go late into the night.
Ready for the bonfire!
Last Wednesday night, we went to a nearby park to celebrate my first Valborg. There were so many people! It started off with a woman giving a speech (Christopher kindly translated) about the park and the community (the park is getting toilets!) and the origins of Valborg. She said it was tradition the Swedes adopted from the Germans hundreds of years ago. Next, the choir sang a few songs and another man gave a lengthy speech. Finally, they lit the fire! From the pile of branches and leaves that were gathered from the park, I assumed it would be an average sized fire but Google Image told me otherwise. I have no idea how a controlled fire became as large as it did as quickly as it did, but it was awesome!
In no time at all, a pile of sticks became an enormous bonfire
After we got home, I wanted to do some more research on the origins of Valborg because I’m a huge nerd at heart. Of course, there are conflicting stories. Some sources say Valborg predates any German holiday and was actually derived from Viking fertility celebrations and the bonfires were used to scare off witches and evil spirits. A more practical use of the fire was also to scare of predators as livestock were let out to graze.
However, the German roots are quite prevalent in everything I read. According to German folklore, Walpurgisnacht was believed to be a night when witches gathered at Brocken, the highest peak in the Harz Mountains (A German tradition of sorcerers and witches meeting on May Day were recorded during the 15th through 17th centuries). Alas, the day was Christianized and named after the eve of the feast day of St. Walpurga, an 8th-century abbess in Germany. Regardless of the actual origins, it was so cool to participate in a Swedish tradition knowing that people have celebrated in a similar way for hundreds of years.
If only I had s’mores supplies…
The welcoming of spring in Sweden at the conclusion of April was somewhat symbolic for me. April was full of transitions for me; the longest and the shortest month ever! It seems like years ago, but I began April living with one of my closest friends and attending a Bastille concert with some other wonderful friends in Minneapolis. I drove over 800 miles with my mom back to Ohio and spent some time quality time with friends and family, even my sister in Boston. Finally, I moved to Sweden to be with my wonderful Christopher and time really started to fly. I do miss my friends and family (and Chipotle), but I’m having an amazing time and embracing the change!
Valborg at Ramlösa Brunnspark
How swede it is 