Midsommarfest History

In June 1959, Seattle's Skandia Folkdance Society -- founded a decade earlier -- inaugurated Skandia Midsommarfest.  The initiator, Skandia founder and director Gordon Ekvall Tracie, aimed to re-create a traditional Scandinavian celebration of the summer solstice in as authentic a manner as possible, complete with the ancient pole-raising ceremony and outdoor dancing, as practiced in Sweden for centuries.

Starting modestly at Scandia Gaard farmstead in Gig Harbor on Puget Sound, the event rapidly grew in size, soon requiring a second stage. Like the first stage, it was built by folk-dancer volunteer labor. In 1976, Skandia Midsommarfest was held at Seattle Center in conjunction with the Bicentennial Nordic Festival. It featured 68 traditional musicians, dancers and crafts people brought to the United States from Scandinavia by Gordon Tracie for the Smithsonian Institution.

By 1980, Skandia's midsummer festival had outgrown the Gig Harbor site, so it moved to "Little Norway," Poulsbo in 1981, where an ample public park was available for the event. Warmly welcomed by the townspeople with a long time Nordic identity, Skandia folk dancers found new friends.

Today, Washington State's Skandia Midsommarfest has grown to become the largest grassroots Nordic folklore activity outside Scandinavia. Each year many folk dancers from throughout the United States and Canada—and often overseas—take part; more fiddlers and other folk musicians are involved to provide authentic Nordic music throughout the day; more Scandinavian folk costumes appear; and more families from all walks of life come to enjoy the pageantry, music, dance, folk crafts and activities, and to experience the enjoyment of outdoor dancing.

In 2001, the midsummer site was moved to the East side of Puget Sound to beautiful Saint Edward State Park on the shores of Lake Washington. Situated between Kirkland and Kenmore in suburban King County, the park, a quiet haven in the midst of urban bustle, is the largest remaining undeveloped area on Lake Washington.

Although location and times have changed over the years, two elements have remained constant at Skandia Midsommarfest: the strict standards of authenticity and tradition established by Skandia Folkdance Society's founder, and the wholesome spirit of fellowship and good fun that prevails. Thus, a New World public continues to enjoy a venerable Old World celebration, re-created on the shores of Lake Washington. Skandia Folkdance Society wishes participants and guests alike:

GLAD MIDSOMMAR!