Valborgsmässoafton
Valborgsmässoafton is a day celebrated each year in Sweden on the 30th of april. The tradition comes from the saint Valborg (or Walpurgis) who died 779 ad. and was proclaimed a saint by the church in 893. To preserve her memory a cult with a strong belief in the protection against witches and evil forces started lighting bonfires in Saint Walpurgis name.
But in modern times the day has overgone to become a day to welcome spring and summer with traditional singing and fireworks except the bonfire. (And to be honest I thought this was why we celebrated the day, I looked the stuff about Walpurgis up = )
The tradition is strong in Sweden and is (according to my sources on the web) also celebrated in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, the Czech republic, Latvia and Germany of course. But I don´t know how much the day is celebrated in those countries.
Since the first of may is also a red day in Sweden a lot of people take the opportunity to party. It is also the day of our Kings birthday and hence, a public flagday.
The bonfire you see above is taken from three different angles in a half hour interval in Solna, just outside Stockholms innercity limit (15 minutes away from the city centre). But similar fires are lit at thousands of places around Sweden.
The fire I was at was lit at half past eight when it started to get dark, and that is why you´ll see different types of darkness.
I´ve got a feeling I´ll have to edit some words here later on, a bottle of Cato Negro in good friends company have a deep effect on my keyboardtechnique =)
See you tomorrow!
posted by AlexandLisa @ 12:33 PM
10 Comments:
nice going mate! :) i believe your keyboardtechnique is quite good...considering :D
Already home! That is unbelivable! You are superman. Or Catwoman. I have´nt decidec yet! Iaaeeee eieaeree!
salute...
bienvenue dans la planéte Daily Photo et bon vole...
http://bastiadailyphoto.blogspot.com/
pace è salute...
Welcome aboard from Porto!
Curious spring tradition because we have a little in common about the day and issue.
Thats the largest bonfire I've ever seen! Interesting historical note on the origins of this event :)
The bonfire was a hell of a lot bigger last year where I live. But they quickly realized that a devious wind, thousands of people and quite a remarkable pile of gasolindrenched woodpieces is´nt the best combination =)
To let the bad spirits of winter go away there is an analog feast here in Pont-sur-Sambre with the "Brulâge des Bosses" here in the North of France, when the Gilles dance around the fire. Look at my blog where I explain the feast. It is in a few town where we have Gilles. This feast is also in Belgium in Binche.
Wow, that was quite an event!
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