Midsummer's Day Festival

Lindsborg is busy planning for the annual Midsummer's Day Festival held on the 3rd weekend in June.

Mark your calendars to attend this year's event, June 19th, 20th and 21st 2009!

Check out the new official Lindsborg Midsummer's Day site:

MidSummersFestival.org

Lindsborg celebrated Midsummer's yesterday, and a great time was had by all. As previously reported, the format changed quite a bit for this year; the result was a pleasing mix of old and new!

The new layout in the park, the booths representing various aspects of traditional Swedish village life, and of course the wonderful Swedish dancing, all made for one of the best Midsummer's celebrations I've attended.

On the photography front, this year turned out much better than last year. Though I took around 1,000 photos last year, I was disappointed with most of them, and only published a handful.

This year's results speak for themselves; the 15 shown below were chosen from the set of 80 I posted on Flickr, and those were the best of the 178 that made the first cut, chosen from 784 total images.

Using Adobe Lightroom, it's taken me about 5-7 hours to sort, process (crop, straighten, color balance), convert to jpeg and publish to Flickr and my web sites. Well worth it, I might add. I love trying to capture a fun event like Midsummer's and then sharing it with the world.

Susan and Becky did a tremendous job in leading the team this year, as we pulled off one of the best Midsummer's in recent memory!
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Traditional manly dance.
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Swedish dancers.
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Swedes love their coffee!
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More Swedish dancers.
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I just love the dance with the flower covered hoops!
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More of the hoop dance.
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Wheee!!
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The Swedish dancers continue to be the highlight of Midsummer's for me.
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The dancers head to Sweden soon after Midsummer's; think they look excited?
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A master at work.
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Main street even had a Maypole this year.
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Midsummer's isn't complete without the traditional Maypole raising ceremony.
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Leading the charge. The live musical accompaniment provided by these local musicians adds greatly to the days' proceedings.
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The frog dance, a humorous dance made more fun by the audience's participation. Even the bishop is in the mood.

It's hard to believe we've come this far since our first Midsummer's committee meeting in January, but Lindsborg will be celebrating Midsummer's this weekend, Saturday June 21st.

You can visit our Midsummer's Day web site for more information, and a PDF of the full-color, 8 page program is available:

Midsummer's Day Program

I've been involved with 4 Midsummer's celebrations and this year promises to be one of the best ever! Quoting from a recent Midsummer's press release:

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.

Finally, to further get you in the mood for Midsummer's this weekend, here's a few photos from Midsummer's past:

Press the "reload/refresh" button in your browser to see a different set of photos. You can also view more photos of Midsummers in Lindsborg from years gone by.

If you haven't finalized your plans to visit Lindsborg and celebrate Midsummer's Day on Saturday, June 21st, this may help. We're pleased to make available the event program, featuring information about all of the new activities planned for this year.

The program is available as a full-color PDF file:

2008 Midsummer's Program

MIDSUMMER'S DAY SCHEDULE OF EVENTS 2007

Midsummer's is celebrated in Lindsborg the 3rd weekend of June. This year, the celebration begins on Friday, June 15th, with the main events on Saturday, June 16th, and concluding on Sunday, June 17th with the traditional Vespers service followed by a potluck dinner.

Alf Brorson Book Reading and Signing Friday Morning, 15 June 2007

On Friday morning at 10am the Sister City Committee and The Swedish Friendship Group will be hosting a Reading and Book signing by Alf Brorson, Bethany Church Fellowship Hall.

15TH ANNIVERSARY OF SISTER CITIES, LINDSBORG KS & MUNKFORS, VÄRLMAND
FRIDAY EVENING, 15 JUNE 2007
8:00 - 10:00pm Street Dance,
Featuring Guest Group from Munkfors Sweden "Tiny Toads"
Open to the Public, Free will donation at the gates
Bring your lawn chair to ensure a good seat.

MIDSUMMER'S DAY, 16 JUNE 2006
Swensson Memorial Park, 400 BLK North Main
9:00 - PARK OPENS, GATE ADMISSION $5.00 / 3 & under FREE
WRIST BAND GETS YOU INTO BOTH NORTH & SOUTH PARK EVENTS
CHILDRENS AREA OPEN 9AM - 3PM CRAFTS, (SKITS & STORY TELLING 11:15 - 11:45), GAMES- (everyone wins a prize), WEAVING, AND WATER FUN.

9:30-10:30 Opening Procession
National Anthems
Tiny Toads - Swedish
Swedish Folk Dancers - American
Greetings and Introductions
Introduction of Midsummer's Committee Members
Mayoral Welcome - Judy Neuschafer
10:30 -11:00 Tiny Toads, special program written just for our Midsummer's Celebration
11:00 -11:30 Lindsborg Swedish Folk Dancers
11:30 -12:00 Tales from the old country with Ole, Sven & Freinds
12:00 -12:30 Lindsborg Folkdanslag
12:30 -12:45 Family Dance Games
12:45 - 1:00 Alf Brorson, "Sweden and the Swedes"
1:00 - 1:30 Broadway RFD Preview- DAMN YANKEES- DIRECTOR CODY WHETSTONE
1:30 - 2:00 Lindsborg Swedish Folk Dancers
2:00 - 2:30 Choirs
2:30 - 2:45 Folk Dräkt style show
2:45 - 3:15 Lindsborg Folkdanslag
3:15 - 3:30 Family Dance Games
3:30 - 4:00 Tiny Toads

SWEDISH SMÖRGÅSBORD 5:00 -Bethany College Union
TICKETS AVAILABLE $17.5 ADULTS, $10.00 CHILDREN FROM LINDSBORG SWEDISH FOLK DANCERS BILL TAYLOR - TREASURER - lsfdtreasurer@cox.net or 402-768-8418 or
PO Box 242, Lindsborg KS 67456

EVENING EVENTS
OLD MILL HERITAGE COMPLEX, 120 Mill St. (South Park)
6:30 PARK OPENS, GATE ADMISSION $5:00 / 3 & under FREE
WRIST BAND GETS YOU INTO BOTH NORTH & SOUTH PARK EVENTS
6:30 - 7:30 Tiny Toads
7:30 -10:00 Raising of the May Pole - Lindsborg Folkdanslag
Blowing of the Birch Horn - Lindsborg Swedish Folk Dancer
Opening Procession
Dance Performances
Lindsborg Folkdanslag
Lindsborg Swedish Folk Dancers
10:00-12:00 Midnight Swim - Lindsborg Swimming Pool - (South Park) $1 admission

SUNDAY, 17 JUNE 2006
4:30 Vespers Service, Bethany Lutheran Church
Guest Preacher Alf Brorson, Special Music: Tiny Toads
5:30 Potluck

As usual at Midsummer's, the Lindsborg Swedish Folk Dancers are serving their traditional Swedish SMÖRGÅSBORD dinner. The first seating is at 5:00pm at the Bethany College Pihlbad Student Union. The tickets are priced at $17.50 for adults and $10 for children. Contact Bill Taylor at lsfdtreasurer@cox.net or (402) 768-8418 or at PO Box 242, Lindsborg KS 67456 to purchase tickets. Hurry, as this very popular event sells out fast!