No. 28 Valborg

Life in Sweden

No. 28 Valborg

2002/05/01

In Sweden, the night of Valborg (Walpurgis) on April 30th is the celebration of the arrival of Spring. It used to be a ceremony to expel witches that were believed to become active in this season. Nowadays, nobody believes in withces, but you can see some remnant of it in the way of the celebration.

This year, I have been to Skansen, and you can also see the movies (Movie 1, Movie 2).

One of the traditional ways to cerebrate Valborg is to "Beat the cat out of the barrel". I don't know the detailed reason for it, but I read that cats were linked to witches in old days. Of course, in Skansen, placed in the barrel was a dummy, instead of real cats.

Putting a fake "cat" in the barrel.

Beating the barrel with sticks until breaking down the barrel.

The most popular thing in Valborg is the bonfire. Branches of trees dropped during the Winter are collected and used for it.

Branches of the trees to be burned.

Putting fire on the trees.

Male chorus sang the songs of Spring.

Many people gathered around the bonfire.

There is no need to mention that there were a lot of drunken people during the night.

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