Around Summer solstice in late June, Danes celebrate Sankt Hans Evening (St. John’s Eve) with bonfires and sometimes witch dolls! This was originally a pagan celebration of summer solstice and the magical shortest night of the year but after the introduction of Christianity it also became the celebration of John the Baptist’s birthday which is supposedly June 24th.

There used to be a lot of superstition related to this night. Evil was was fought away with bonfires and sick people travelled to holy springs hoping their illnesses would be cured on this night where light was stronger than darkness. As a symbol of chasing evil forces away, Danes started burning a hay witch on top of the bonfire in the early 1900! Real humans, believed to be witches, were not burned in Denmark after 1693. Nevertheless, the story goes that on the evening of Sankt Hans: “the witches are being sent off to Brocken” (the highest point of the Herz mountains in Germany).

Interestingly, this pagan/Christian tradition is still highly popular in Denmark, although many people skip the witch doll burning. Every year on June 23rd you can see bonfires, sometimes with witch dolls, lightening up the bright midsummer sky all over the country. I believe this tradition has survived for so long because midsummer is a beautiful time to get together with friends and family for bonfire and barbecue. Especially in Denmark, where the sun is up until around 10 pm – and even later in countries further North.

A beautiful and dramatic Sankt Hans Evening bonfire has been depicted in a famous painting by the painter P.S. Krøyer from the Skagen artist colony. It is on display at Skagen’s Museum on the most northern tip of Denmark where light is especially beautiful.

Sankt Hans Evening (St. John’s Eve) bonfire on the beach in Tisvildeleje, Denmark, 2013

Another great place to attend a public Sankt Hans bonfire is the beach in Tisvildeleje, Denmark. Every year there is a large bonfire by the beach and the whole ceremony is opened by a speech by a famous Dane followed by the Midsummer Song by Holger Drachman. There is even a holy spring in Tisvildeleje, called Helenekilde, where sick people used to spend Sankt Hans night in hope of being cured. This is also depicted in a painting by Jørgen Sonne, which is on display at the National Gallery of Denmark in Copenhagen.

You can find public Sankt Hans bonfires and parties all over the country every year on June 23rd. After having returned to live in Denmark, I can truly see how beautiful that night is – not because of the witch doll burning – but because of that magical midsummer light. And, if you are not in Denmark for midsummer why not have a bonfire in the backyard? Whether you believe in witchcraft or not, midsummer nights are a beautiful and fun time for a bonfire…

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