There is a long-standing pagan tradition of lighting bonfires on beacon hills to strengthen the power of the Sun before it began its decline. On Midsummer Day, fire wheels were rolled down the hillsides, flaming tar barrels were swung on chains and blazing torches tossed in the air.
In Sweden, they still hold a midsummer weekend with a midsummer tree, or pole, decorated with greenery and flowers forming the centerpiece of music and revels. There is feasting in towns as well as the countryside in what is a national event and thousands of people gather as they have for centuries at focal points such as the Island of Oland on the Stockholm archipelago.
