We continued to another small place, called Faxe Ladeplats:
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We initially wanted to stop here, because this is the place where the father of Lars was born. But then we saw a group of people, young and old, walking with torches in the main street of the town. Lars and I were simply enchanted. We were quite sure this had something to do with Sankt Hans Aften and followed them.
After 20 minutes we managed to park our car near the beach. Lars and I followed the local people and about 20 slippery steps brought us to the beach, right next to a huge pile of wood, with on top a doll resembling a witch. Bingo!
Sankt Hans Aften – the Danish name for the solstice festivities – has been celebrated since the time of the Vikings and was originally meant to chase away evil spirits. Nowadays, people bring with them their pick-nick, listen to speeches, sit around the bonfire and sing a hymn that was especially composed for this occasion.
What we saw next was simply magical. After the speeches, the people with the torches came near the pile of wood and gathered in a circle around it. We witnessed the lighting of the bonfire and heard the hymn. The fire was simply enormous! People of all ages were sitting down or standing and watching the whole procedure. Others were looking at the sea and the beginning of sunset. Most of them had brought beer with them and even champagne. And I felt thrilled that I had finally witnessed it all… Little did I know that the best was yet to come…
Unfortunately, my pictures are not of a very good quality. There was a lot of rain and wind and once the bonfire was lit, the smoke came straight towards us.