JAFFREY — Traditional Scandinavian music and dancing around the Midsummer pole are part of the second annual Jaffrey First Church Midsummer Celebration taking place in Jaffrey Center on Saturday.

The celebration is again being led by fiddler, soprano and folklorist Andrea Larson. First Church Minister of Music Gene Faxon will accompany her on accordion, according to a release from the church.

Larson has had a passion for Swedish folk music and dance for nearly two decades, which has led her to perform in theaters, museums, churches and schools in the United States, England and Sweden.

She has fiddled for Christmas Revels in New York and Boston and toured nationally as a soprano in the Waverly Consort’s “American Journey.” She currently teaches violin at her home in Wilton.

Midsummer Day is celebrated in Scandinavian countries on or around June 24 to commemorate the feast day of St. John the Baptist. The traditional Midsummer pole is in the shape of a cross, but that is as religious as the celebration gets, according to Gunilla Johanson of Jaffrey.

Midsummer also celebrates the summer solstice, when daylight lasts until late into the evening.

“In parts of Northern Europe the sun never sets this time of the year. On Midsummer Eve, each community will raise a Midsummer pole decorated with birch branches and wildflowers. Families gather to enjoy an afternoon of traditional music and dancing,” the church release states.

Johanson and another parishioner, Karem Kraft, inspired the first celebration last year.

Johanson and Kraft both grew up in Sweden, and they look back on Midsummer celebrations from their childhoods as times spent with family, gathering wildflowers, playing games and enjoying traditional song and dance.

Though the women didn’t know each other growing up — Johanson grew up in Gothemburg and Kraft grew up in Stockholm — they became fast friends after meeting as members of First Church.

Joining the celebration this year is the Finnish folk dance group Revontulet. The group’s performance will begin around noon.

The band, whose name means “Northern Lights,” is based in Fitchburg, Mass., and is dedicated to the promotion of Finnish dance traditions. Their dances, music and traditional dress recreate those of Finland during the 18th and 19th centuries.

The celebration will begin at 10:30 a.m. and end at 1 p.m. Festivities will take place on Jaffrey Center Common off Route 124 by the Jaffrey Meetinghouse.

First Church parishioners plan to raise the Midsummer pole on the common in front of the church and make wildflower wreaths for people to wear. Cookies and lemonade will be served.

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Meghan Pierce may be reached at mpierce@newstote.com.