Step back in time and enjoy the magic of summer: Midsommardag 2008
Press Release
CONTACT:
888-227-2227 (Lindsborg Chamber of Commerce)
http://www.littleswedenusa.com/midsummers/
May 22, 2008 - For Immediate Release
"Midsummer's Festival to be held on Saturday, June 21st."
LINDSBORG, KS --Mark your calendars for the 3rd weekend in June to attend Midsummer's Day Festival in Lindsborg: Little Sweden USA. This traditional Swedish festival, which is celebrated worldwide, welcomes the arrival of the summer solstice. Now in its 37th year, Lindsborg's 2008 Midsummer's Festival promises to be a fun-filled day for everyone in the family!
Midsummer's will be celebrated on Saturday, June 21, beginning with opening ceremonies in Swensson Park at 9:30 a.m. (the park opens at 9:00 a.m.). Festival organizers have dramatically changed the festival this year with new events and activities intended to embrace the community's Swedish heritage and to involve guests and participants more intimately in the celebration.
Visitors can enjoy the magic of summer by stepping into a quaint Swedish village, which features artisans' shops, settlers' homes, artists and craftsmen's studios, a storyteller's den, and a homemaker's kitchen. They can absorb as well as observe. For example, the Svenska Vänskaps Gruppen (Swedish Friendship Group) will welcome casual visitors, explaining traditions, customs, and folklore handed down over generations - even helping them learn Swedish phrases.
As always, there will be music and dancing with the youthful Lindsborg Swedish Folkdancers and their elder counterparts, the Lindsborg Folkdanslag, each celebrated locally and nationally for their talent and jubilance. Visitors will be given the opportunity to join the dancers and learn a few steps. Special guests include author Kathy Bernstrom Lerfald and John Berquist, a teller of Scandinavian folk stories and musician.
The festival will also feature a children's area with crafts, games, and story-telling. Throughout the day, many Lindsborg residents and visitors will be in Swedish costume, adding to the flavor of Midsommardag.
A style show and other activities will be held in Bethany Lutheran Church in the afternoon.
The Volvo Car Club will host their regional rally at the north end of Swensson Park, which will be followed by a Road Rally on Sunday at 9:00 am.
Visitors are invited to join in the Midsummer's Interlude in downtown Lindsborg between 4:00 and 7:00 p.m. for live music, food, games, and shopping. Mainstreet, a five-piece show band from Manhattan, will perform jazz, rock, blues and R&B. Downtown restaurants will serve Swedish food, and folks can judge the local businesses' individual maypole entries.
The Midsummer's Day celebration continues in the evening at the Old Mill Museum and its Swedish Pavilion and Heritage Complex. Visitors will experience the traditional raising of the maypole, followed by traditional Swedish dances. For those still left standing, the day will conclude with a swim at the Lindsborg swimming pool.
