"Finns enter nature, and nature enters us." Stemming from traditions over a thousand years old, the Finnish Midsummer celebration serves as a foundation for what we seek in festivals today. But what exactly are these traditional values that constitute a ‘festival’? Together with the team behind Solstice Festival, we spoke to Juha Nirkko, Senior Archivist at the Finnish Literature Society, to explore how this ancient celebration has become the cornerstone of their annual community gathering at the top of the Rukatunturi hill.
The ancient Finnish Midsummer is celebrated through the summer solstice which takes place every year between June 19th and 25th. Astronomically, this is the time when the earth is tilted towards maximum capacity, leaving the sun at its highest point of elevation, resulting in a series of days where the sun never sets. During this period, Solstice Festival takes place in the far north of Finland in neverending daylight, draped in the Scandinavian Midsummer energies. Together with Juha Nirkko, an expert on Finnish culture, we examined the parallels between this historical tradition and current-day festivals.
Festive Rituals
Research shows that religion, nature, connectivity, music, mythology and transgressing normality are all among the traditional values of festivals. These themes are often manifested through rituals; symbolic acts that represent or pass on the values and orders of a community. Interestingly, these rituals see the destruction of normative behaviour to reinforce it on a wider scale. Ancestrally a pagan celebration, the purpose of Midsummer originated in welcoming the summer season to ensure a successful harvest. Festivities included dancing, singing, drinking, cleaning, lighting bonfires, and collecting flowers based on the belief that Midsummer was a magical and prosperous time of healing and luck under a sun that resists setting.
‘In earlier times people did magic deeds’, Nirkko states when expanding on the topic of superstition and ritual during Midsummer celebrations. ‘For example, it was not just fun but also useful to be drunk: it helped to get a good harvest by wasting, sacrificing the previous harvest, by pouring rye and barley products down the throat and reaching another mental level.’ ‘Many people remember rituals about girls running naked in rye fields.’ Nirkko highlights: ‘This was done to transmit one’s “lempi” (sexual power) via bare skin and field dew. Jumping over bonfires also echoes the lempi theme as it was believed to increase your chances of finding the right one.’ Due to their status seen as a ritualised break from routine, the characteristics of excess, hedonism, and transgression can be mirrored in the contemporary essence of festivals.
Inside the community
The desire to feel connected to each other is in our neurobiology and developed through evolution. At first, this anchored us for survival purposes. Today, it is what gives us meaning. ‘Sense of community and continuity are the two things that get culture going’, Nirkko explains when reflecting on the values of Midsummer. ‘The communities can be small. For instance a family or a small neighbourhood. But they can also be big as a country or supporters of a certain music genre. Continuity includes and allows change. Paradoxically, traditions stay alive by modifying and transforming themselves.’
Inside the community
The desire to feel connected to each other is in our neurobiology and developed through evolution. At first, this anchored us for survival purposes. Today, it is what gives us meaning. ‘Sense of community and continuity are the two things that get culture going’, Nirkko explains when reflecting on the values of Midsummer. ‘The communities can be small. For instance a family or a small neighbourhood. But they can also be big as a country or supporters of a certain music genre. Continuity includes and allows change. Paradoxically, traditions stay alive by modifying and transforming themselves.’
Safe in the embrace of mother nature where you can almost feel the energy of the earth, Solstice Festival is a sacred, ethereal sanctuary that innately preserves the value of community and the mystic identity of Midsummer. Located 500 metres above sea level on top of a fjell (translated as ‘mountain’) in Ruka, Northern Finland, travelling to the festival takes eleven hours from Helsinki by car. This principle mirrors the pilgrim traits seen in Midsummer celebrations with city-goers venturing out into the land. This imminent, stark switch of environment can be seen to foreshadow an impending opportunity for deep connection.
As a universal language that defies the barriers of space, music is an imperative factor in strengthening community bonds, providing a setting to evoke a unifying experience through sonic connection. Combining the esoteric property of sound with a setting such as the wilderness can allow for an intense, binding experience to temporarily become immersed in a surreal utopia.
Drawing on the pivotal role of music in Midsummer, Nirkko states: ‘Music has been important at all times, of course. Traditional folk dance or “piirlekki” (ring play) takes place in many events today.’ Folklore seeps through every fragment of Midsummer, as superstitions surround even the quality of the artist: ‘There is folklore all over Finland about how one can become a brilliant singer or player. At Midsummer midnight, one must climb a rock in the middle of a river, and the Devil will appear from the river and give a music lesson.’
Staged in a setting of far-stretching pristine hills and wandering elk, nature is a pivotal element guiding the Solstice Festival experience. Touching on the forever relevant focus point of the earth in Midsummer celebrations, Nirkko points out: ‘Finns enter nature and nature enters us.’ While historically the subject of worship in festivals, nature's key component in establishing a unique atmosphere for connection remains noteworthy. As many of us now live in metropolis cities, the ability to venture out into the outdoors, and be in the heart of nature to dance and celebrate, can scientifically alleviate stress and tend to our primal need to be surrounded by our natural habitat.
Intensifying this quality, the Midnight Sun of Midsummer heightens the visceral impact of nature, cultivating an enchanting and mystic setting. Commenting on this unparalleled experience, Nirkko explains: ‘There is a sense of happiness, together with some melancholy. We try to be awake, but we should not sleep because this will be over soon. As soon as Midsummer and summer solstice are gone, many Finns begin to worry about days getting shorter minute by minute. Autumn and darkness are feared to come soon and pessimists won't admit that summer has just begun.’
As the illusion and construct of time are shattered with the disappearance of darkness, a supernatural aura encompasses Solstice Festival. Removing a construct so deeply embedded into our societal structure sets the stage for a profound, pervasive feeling of obscure mystery.
And so it becomes clear - the team behind Solstice Festival is on a bigger mission. They are inviting people from around the world to join the ancient Midsummer celebration on top of the Ruka hill. A gathering that isn’t only about music, but one that revives pagan traditions in a contemporary context. While climbing a rock together at Midsummer midnight with family and friends, Solstice Festival invites visitors to reconnect with our pagan roots while reliving an ancient happening. The next Solstice Festival will take place 22nd - 24th 2024.
