What exactly is Swedish Valborg, and where are the best places to celebrate it?

The name ’Walpurgis’ (Valborg in Swedish) comes from the English Saint Walpurga, who travelled to promote Christianity across the rest of Europe and particularly Germany. But although she gives her name to the festivities which Sweden borrowed from its German neighbours, bonfires have been lit at the start of spring for centuries beforehand, as a way to celebrate the long-awaited end of winter.

Some Christians in northern Europe celebrated the saint on May 1st as that’s the day she was canonized, and this was also the time farmers across the region would traditionally put their animals out to pasture.

The religious feast day became blended with older rituals aimed at cleansing the land and ensuring fertility during the coming summer. Today, May 1st is a public holiday, and the valborgsmässoafton (Walpurgis Eve) celebrations on April 30th retain an important role in the Swedish calendar despite shedding its Christian roots.