Barbara Bouwkamp attended the Juhannus kokko at Agate Beach, sponsored and lit by the Toivola Fire Department last weekend. Agate Beach is on the west side of the Keweenaw Peninsula, about 10 winding twisty miles from Toivola, Barbara says.

Many Finns and Swedes light bonfires (kokko) at their camps or cabins on the lake on this night to celebrate Midsummer or the longest day of the year, also known as Summer Solstice. Barb said these photos were taken about 9:30 p.m. and it is still daylight. This time of year here UP North, it does not get dark until closer to 11:00. This fire threw off an incredible amount of heat, which was a good thing, because it was chilly, despite young folks you see in the water, when they came out, the kokko warmed them up again.

The video Barbara recorded is complete with the crackling of the huge kokko on the beautiful Agate Beach. Make sure you turn UP your volume.

Greetings:

As an aside to the Summer Solstice bonfires any drone or current street photos of the 5th Street fire damage that took place on May 22-23 in Calumet?

How many buildings are now lost from that May fire?

JT

This is so cool....

Nice! Who forgot the witch.

It is suprising how most plants will live out a bad season and come back...
They just pull bavk into themselves and wait, which isn't a bad idea.