Swedish festivities
Major festivities include Midsummer, Christmas (Jul), Easter (Påsk), and Walpurgis Night (Valborg), Semel day.
Many Swedish festivities are closely tied to the Lutheran Church of Sweden, although participation in religious services has declined in recent years.
The celebration of these holidays often involves specific rituals, traditional foods, and gatherings with family and friends, contributing to the social fabric of Swedish society.
[3] Swedish alcohol habits vary greatly during the week - Swedes expect each other to be completely sober during work hours (even one beer for lunch is taboo), but many people drink heavily during weekends.
This has led to much debate, since it is not only in violation of the tradition but many people also find it disturbing or even frightening to have fireworks go off for days instead of only in the half-hour or so after midnight on New Year's night.
On New Year's Eve, Sveriges Television (SVT) shows the classical comedy sketch Dinner for One, Grevinnan och Betjänten.
At midnight, SVT shows the celebration in Skansen in Stockholm, where a prominent actor reads Edvard Fredin's translation of Alfred Tennyson's Ring Out, Wild Bells On New Year's Day.
SVT also used to show the British half-hour comedy The Plank and the ski jumping contest in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, but they have been withdrawn.
This break originated in the coke rationing of World War II, but today it is more of an incentive for exercise through winter sports.
The break occurs between week 7 and 10 depending on county, to spread utilization of Swedish ski resorts.
Good Friday used to be an extraordinarily calm day when all businesses were closed to commemorate the Passion of Christ, but today it is an ordinary holiday.
This is also an occasion when Swedish young adults, particularly university students, drink large amounts of alcohol.
May Day (första maj) is a public holiday, and is celebrated by the Swedish labour movement with demonstrations and political speeches.
Most Swedes try upon this day to get to a place in the countryside where they can eat pickled herring, boiled potatoes and sour cream as well as strawberries and brännvin.
Halloween, the ancient Celtic Irish festival, was imported via the US to Sweden during the 1990s, and is now widely celebrated among children and youth, with another opportunity to collect sweets from neighbours.
The Church of Sweden celebrates All Saints' Day, alla helgons dag, (defined as the Saturday between October and 6 November, unlike the original Roman Catholic day on 1 November) and is mostly observed by older children in the later teens as an excuse for having drinking parties.
Decoration has been influenced by Anglo-Saxon traditions, though extensive, blinking Christmas lights as common in the United States are considered to be a bit kitschy.
Jultomten, Santa Claus, visits many homes handing out presents, coincidentally when one family member is absent to buy the newspaper.
