Sankt Hans Aften - Midsummer celebrations | Frederiksberg Gardens
Celebration
The night is a joint celebration of St. John the Baptist, who is said to have been born on June 24, and the shortest night of the year. Traditionally, the night is celebrated with bonfires, speeches, and the singing of the Danish midsummer song "We Love Our Country" ("Vi Elsker Vort Land"), written in 1885 by Danish poet Holger Drakeman. The top of the bonfire is sometimes decorated with a straw witch. Legend has it that when the witch is burned, she flies to Bloxberg in Germany, where witches are said to meet.