Valborg

Linnéa B., Editor and co-founder|May 4, 2015

Valborgsmässoafton, or Walpurgis night, is celebrated on the last day of April, or the first of May in Sweden, Finland, Germany, Slovenia, Latvia, the Czech Republic and Estonia.

Valborg celebrated in Hagalund, Solna. ["2014-04-30 Valborg i Hagalund" by Magnus Norden is licensed under CC BY 2.0] — Valborg celebrated in Hagalund, Solna. [“2014-04-30 Valborg i Hagalund” by Magnus Norden for Miljöpartiet is licensed under CC BY 2.0]

In Sweden, the fire that is lit on that night symbolises the beginning of spring. “Majbrasor” or May bonfires, are lit all around the country, a choir sings, and famous Swedes make speeches about spring. This year the speaker in Skansen was the famous Hans Rosling. It is also the day that students all over the country put on their student caps and celebrate.

Students sitting in Kungsträdgården. [“#4809” by Ulf Bodin is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0]

An interesting fact is that the 30th of April is also the Swedish king’s birthday, so it is a flag day. There are a couple of different stories about the origin of Walpurgis night, the most popular being that many witches flew around the night before the 1st of May, and the fire was built to scare them away. Another theory is that the holiday came to Sweden from Germany, where it was a Catholic celebration of the Saint Walpurgis.