In August swedes celebrate the beginning of crayfish season with a big party called Kräftskiva (crayfish party). We do so by eating as much of them as possible together with snaps (a shot of Akvavit).

We set a long table outside in our yard, big enough to hold all of our guests at once. The table is filled with crayfish decorations, around it we hang paper suns, festoons and streamers and on our heads we put a small paper cone with crayfish on it – partyhatt.
Swedes love being outside so even though the rain seems to get close, or if the wind is chilly we do our best to forget about that and stay outside.

The crayfish are boiled in saltwater but served cold. Be sure to suck on it before actually eating it. And always be ready, because at any time anyone can start singing a snapsvisa (short drinking song) and everyone has to sing along and drink one snaps. There are often other types of food served as well, like pies and a small buffet of salads. Maybe some cheese and crackers. But mostly the amount of food is less than the amount of alcohol.

This is also the season for surströmming, but that is a whole other story.

In this clip you get to learn a little about midsummer and witness a snapsvisa in the real Swedish traditional way.