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[JimH]

The U.S. celebration of independence from the British is coming up in about ten days.  Anyone have any plans made yet?  I tend to wait until the last minute, but I think we're going to head to Colorado for a few days hiking in the mountains.   We were in Estes Park last year and the fireworks were fun.  We sat on the front porch of this old hotel (The Stanley) to watch them:

Larger picture here:
http://www.jriver.com/~jriver/2004/colorado/estespark/DSC01078.JPG

[Mastiff]

Well, we here in Norway celebrated our freedom from the Swedes three weeks ago. But on the 4th we fire up the barbeque, find our American Classic barbeque sauce, eat spare ribs, drink Budweisers and play loud country music, especially Alan Jackson! Mostly to annoy our left wing french loving neighbours, but it's still fun...

[GHammer]

Here in Ma'anshan, China I will be having my wedding party.
In China they do weddings a bit differently than in the US.
Get engaged.
Have wedding pictures made. They are heavily retouched, you wear costumes, the idea I think is to be unrecognizable.
Get legal. Go to the local family book registry place and register your marriage.
Have the wedding party. Family, friends, coworkers, strangers, just lots of people. Eat tortise, fish, meat (don't ask), veggies, soup, fruit. Drink Chinese moonshine.

Every year though, I have a cookout with a Kiwi, a Brit, and a few Chinese friends.
We'll have hamburgers, wings, ribs, BBQ beans, fries, and more cold beer than you can drink. At least in one day.

Then, being in China, we have a fireworks display. I'll match ours against most town displays I've ever seen. No license needed here for HUGE aerials.

We'll have the fireworks this year, but the cookout is gonna be a day or two late...

[Alex B]

This weekend is the Midsummer celebration weekend in Finland. Today is the Midsummer Eve day.

Quote from http://www.finnguide.com/calendar/june.asp:

Midsummer is celebrated each year between the 20th and 26th of June, at the lightest point of the year. It is the biggest summer celebration in Finland, and signals the start of "the real summer". It is a celebration of light, summer and a "night less" night. The name "Juhannus", as the Midsummer is called in Finnish, originates from John the Baptist ("Johannes" in Finnish), who's commemoration-, and birthday is celebrated in Midsummer. Midsummer is also a Finnish Flag Day. The Flags are raised at 18.00 on Midsummer Eve and lowered at 21.00 on Midsummer evening.


.

The history of Midsummer celebrations date back to pagan times. In East-Finland, it was called "the celebration of Ukko" (Ukko was the Finnish god of thunder, the most important of the Finnish gods, because he created rain, the essential ingredient for a good harvest). According to an old belief, the short night of Midsummer tempted witches, fairies and elves to tease people or to show them their future happiness. This is why Midsummer has been linked to magic and many believes. Even today it is popular among young girls to pick flowers on midsummer night and to place them under their pillows in the hope that their future husbands will be revealed to them in their dreams.

Many Midsummer traditions from the past are still followed today, one of them the building of the "kokko", a huge bonfire by the water. All over Finland, close to midnight on Midsummer Eve, the bonfires are ceremoniously lit. In Finland bonfires were first  made in the eastern parts of the country and from there the tradition quickly spread all over Finland. In the past whole villages would  gather together around the bonfire, and strict rules were followed as to how and when the fire was lit. It was usually the oldest man in the village, who received the great honour of lighting the fire.

In Ahvenanmaa and in Swedish-Finnish coastal areas, the bonfires are replaced with Midsummer poles. The origin and the meaning of this tradition is not exactly known, but there are some theories. According to one of them, the pole could have been a representation of Scandinavian fertility rites dating back to pagan times. Another theory is, that it was introduced to Scandinavia by Hanseatics in medieval times. An old tradition in Midsummer is to decorate houses and doorways with young birch trees and flowers. Midsummer decorations represent the beginning of summer. In the past, herdsmen in the countryside, decorated cattle with flowers to ensure a rich milk production. Traditional Midsummer foods were dairy products, because after a long winter indoors, cows once again started to produce more milk, after they were again able to graze the rich green summer fields. Nowadays dairy products are often replaced with grilled sausages and new potatoes.

During the Midsummer, many open-air dance festivals are arranged and most of the cities have big bonfires for people to gather around and see, however many Finns prefer to celebrate this special occasion in the countryside, at their summer houses together with friends and relatives. Saunas are warmed up, fresh birch whisks are prepared, traditional Finnish songs are heard playing on the radio, sausages are grilled and drinks aplenty are enjoyed. This is the time to relax and enjoy the magical "Night less Night" and welcome the summer.

Unfortunately the Midsummer in Finland also has a sad side. Every year statistics indicate that many people drown during this particular period, as many "Juhannus"  celebrations are held close to water. Under the influence of alcohol common sense is forgotten resulting in unnecessary accidents.

Some "Juhannuskokko" bonfire pictures from Google Images.

I am heading to my summer cottage later on today.

[KingSparta]

Watch All Of My New DVD's

Rocky And Bullwinkle (Season 1 & 2)

[LonWar]

July 1st in Canada is "Canada Day" (our birthday)

July 4th, at noon, marks the start of my vacation.... 1 whole week!!!

[JimH]

Congratulations, Ghammer!  All the best!

[hit_ny]

Watch the space craft that is going to impact the comet ...

[Dutch Peter]

In the Netherlands we just work.
When we come back we think of all those other countries celebrating nice historical events.
Than I will most probably sit down on my porch with a few beers, listen to the music streaming through my MP101, and think of you.
Cheers!

[KingSparta]

Watch the space craft that is going to impact the comet

What Space Craft? What Comet?

Edit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/deepimpact/main/

[GHammer]

Congratulations, Ghammer!  All the best!

Thanks! Lovely woman my new bride. Don't know why she agreed to marry me, but quite happy that she did.

[Shelly]

Watching the fireworks from the back of our boat and hoping it isn't a windy night.

Congratulations and my very best wishes to ghammer and his soon-to-be bride.  If Jim hadn't started this post, we might not have known about your plans!

[pank2002]

The U.S. celebration of independence from the British is coming up in about ten days.  Anyone have any plans made yet?  I tend to wait until the last minute, but I think we’re going to head to Colorado for a few days hiking in the mountains.   We were in Estes Park last year and the fireworks were fun.  We sat on the front porch of this old hotel (The Stanley) to watch them:

Me too except I don’t come before the 6th or the 7th. Well, I have a ticket to NYC, but I haven’t gotten one for Denver yet. I might just let it go, and stay home...
Damn me for not getting anything organized in ‘timely manner’.
-Rasmus

PS: I have celebrated 4th of July (once), at Rebild Bakker. I don’t remember much, since we got pretty drunk.

[bebop]

Congrats GHammer!!!  Hope long life and much happiness together!  And, of course, lots of lucky money!!

We are in the process of selling our house and moving out to the countryside!  So will be packing, cleaning and generally biting my nails until it is all over and am settled into the new place!

[modelmaker]

From pank2002: PS: I have celebrated 4th of July (once), at Rebild Bakker.

As a Danish-American (halv dansker), I have been to the Rebild festival several times, here's a little more info:

Independence Day Fourth of July at Rebild Bakker in Denmark by Hans Nyberg:


Yes we do celebrate the Independence Day in Denmark.
Actually this year we had a 90 year anniversary of the celebrations at Rebild Bakker which is situated in the north of Jutland.


The celebrations at Rebild is the largest outside USA.
The founder was a Danish-American Max Henius who emigrated to USA in 1881 and settled in Chicago. He never forgot Denmark and he donated the Hills at Rebild to be used as a place for Danish American relations.

During this 90 years the celebrations have been attended by many known Americans including former presidents.
Raymon Burr, Richard Nixon, Hubert H Humphrey, Danny Kaye, Walther Cronkite, Victor Borge, Walter Shirra, Walt Disney are a few of the keynote speakers from the last 40 years.

Happy 4th! and congrats to gHammer. Don't Drink and Drive!

[GHammer]

Thanks for the good wishes everyone!

Hope you all enjoy the holiday no matter where or how.

[elpaolo]

Looks like I'm throwing a party in the Uptown area at my apartment.  Colorado sounds nice, too, though.