Back in the day, Midsummer Festival was practiced as a pagan holiday that commemorates the arrival of summer and the longest day of the year, explains Lori Fredrickson, communication and outreach manager at the American-Scandinavian Foundation . "After Catholicism, it kind of got merged in with a celebration of the birth of Saint John the Baptist," she says. "So, that is the religious significance behind it." Nowadays, Midsummer Festival is all about nature and "the coming of light," explains Yvonne Ericson, a visitor services associate at the American-Scandinavian Foundation. Many far-flung Swedes will travel home for the special festivities.