Midsummer's Day falls on the 24th June this year after the longest day of the year (Summer Solstice)!
The longest day in the northern hemisphere is today either the 20th or 21st of June, whilst Midsummer's Day in Europe is traditionally on 24 June.
On the eve of Midsummer's Day, many people around the world celebrate with bonfires. These happen mainly in Scandinavian countries, Latvia, Estonia, in Cornwall in England and in Ireland. Centuries ago, bonfires were held to praise the sun as the days were getting shorter and the sun appeared to be getting weaker, so people would light fires to try and strengthen the sun.
Celebrate Midsummer’s Day in Your classroom
A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare and is about the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens and the Queen of the Amazons. We have selected some of the text and placed it on the Teleprompter tool! In this text, Oberon, the King of the fairies, describes to Puck, his servant, how the flower got its magical power to cause people to fall in love.
This is available in Year 6 in England and in the Upper Levels in other regions.