Lucia

Tuesday was St. Lucia’s Day in Sweden and other Nordic countries.

December 13 is the day to commemorate Lucia, a martyred Catholic saint. In a traditional Swedish celebration known as a luciatåg, a girl wearing a white dress and a crown of candles leads a procession of maidens.

Many processions also include star boys, and those performed by young children often feature gingerbread men and Santas as additional characters.

The celebrations revolve around singing. Sweden followed the Julian calendar until 1700, and December 13 was the shortest, darkest day of the year. The main song is about St. Lucia bringing light to the darkness.

People eat gingerbread and drink mulled wine, but my favorite food associated with the day is lussekatter, saffron buns that are eaten throughout Advent but particularly on this day.



Saffron, the world’s most expensive spice by weight, quickly became one of my favorite baking flavors when I moved here. I didn’t even really know what it was in the States.

Lucia is a winter tradition I hadn’t experienced yet, because I was working in Stockholm at this time last year and two years ago I hadn’t quite arrived for my first visit.

We spent the morning with a group of elementary school children from the school where Amanda’s mom works. They performed a procession in a church next to their school, about 20 minutes south of our town.



The parents loved every second of it.

National Day

Sweden celebrated its National Day yesterday, although maybe “celebrate” isn’t the most appropriate word.

Swedes save all rowdiness for Midsummer later this month. According to a survey conducted by SVT, the country’s national television broadcaster, roughly 80 percent of Swedes don’t do anything special on National Day.

While many countries, like the United States and our Scandinavian neighbor Norway, celebrate independence on their National Day, Sweden doesn’t have any such history to commemorate.

June 6 is the day Gustav Vasa was elected king in 1523, and also the day Sweden adopted new constitutions in both 1809 and 1974. The date became Swedish Flag Day in 1916 and the government first officially recognized it as National Day in 1983, though it’s only been a public holiday for six years. If it falls during the workweek it’s viewed by most Swedes simply as a bonus day off as the weather is starting to warm up.

The weather couldn’t have been any better yesterday in Falköping. The town organized a day of music, performances and free mini golf in the park.

I’ve never seen so many people out and about here.

Waffle Day

Since the beginning of the month I had been noticing an inordinate number of area stores advertising waffle irons at reduced prices. I didn’t figure it out until I glanced through the grocery circulars earlier this week.

Tomorrow is International Waffle Day, a holiday that actually originated here in Sweden. The stores around Falköping wouldn’t let anyone forget it, either:









“Våffeldagen” is not to be confused with National Waffle Day in the United States in August, which honors the first patented waffle iron in 1869. One of those “holidays” I had no idea existed before writing this.

Exactly nine months before Christmas, Våffeldagen corresponds with the religious celebration of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary (“Our Lady’s Day,” or “Vårfrudagen” in Swedish). The Annunciation celebrates Gabriel informing Mary that she was pregnant with Jesus Christ.

March 25 isn’t so much a religious holiday today as it is the day Swedes welcome spring, though it’s a few days behind the first day of the season on the calendar. (Side note: it may not feel like spring yet at least as far as temperatures are concerned, but our days below freezing seem to finally be gone. One thing’s for sure: the days are getting longer, and it’s nice having light in the sky until almost 7 p.m. again).

I’ve read two common explanations of the incorporation of waffles, which in Sweden aren’t so much a breakfast food as they are a dessert treat smothered with whipped cream and jam.

Neither explanation is particular convincing. Some people claim Vårfrudagen was pronounced like “Vafferdagen” in certain dialects. Others say that Swedish women have historically swapped their winter chores for spring tasks on March 25, and one of those is making waffles.

Either way, interesting custom. Count me in.