On Midsommar, like most days these days, it rained.
A Saturday downpour drenched the maypole and soaked the flowers waiting to be woven into garlands for the Midsommar Celebration at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis.
So Minnesotans danced in the rain.
“This Midsommar was filled with laughter, flowers, connection, and a bit of rain that couldn’t stop the dancing!” the institute posted after the longest, soggiest day. “Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate, and a special shoutout to all the små grodorna [small frogs] who hopped, skipped, and danced around the maypole!”
After three straight summers of drought, Minnesotans are getting reacquainted with rain delays. It’s raining on our parades, our picnics, our playdates. We are all små grodorna now.
When the rain shifted to storm, the Midsommar Celebration moved indoors. You don’t plan an event in Minnesota without a backup plan for a change in the weather. Inside went the maypole, the musician, the dancers, the games, the fun. The party ended, as all parties should, with Abba karaoke.
A Minnesota summer is as sweet as it is short. The institute plans plenty of outdoor events at this time of year to take advantage. Buckets of rain could dampen upcoming classes, concerts and the institute’s annual August crayfish dinner. But it doesn’t have to dampen the spirits.
“They still go on,” said Oliver Hunter, the Institute’s art and culture programs coordinator, who scheduled around last summer’s choking wildfire smoke and is scheduling around this summer’s deluge. “People still make do and have fun.”
