Jan van Haasteren 'Midsummer Festival' 1000 pieces

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Jan van Haasteren 'Midsummer Festival' 1000 pieces - where to buy?

Jan van Haasteren 'Midsummer Festival' 1000 pieces - Specifications

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More about this puzzle

I made the 'Midsummer Feast' - this is number 1110100029, issue 3 June 2023. This puzzle is drawn by Robert Derks Studio Jan van Haasteren. It's this puzzle:

and this is the box:

Explanation of this puzzle

I made a video and give a short explanation of this puzzle:

What is the Midsummer Festival or Midsummer Festival?

The midsummer festival is an ancient celebration of the longest day of the year (“summer solstice”), celebrating the victory of light over darkness. In short: The start of summer is celebrated! It is celebrated on June 21 each year – the 'longest' light day of the year.

The Midsummer Festival is still celebrated vividly in different parts of the world and plays an important role in connecting people with each other and with nature. The Midsummer Feast, also known as the Midsummer Eve Feast, is a celebration celebrated around the longest day of the year, the summer solstice. This festival has its origins in the ancient Germanic and Celtic cultures and is still celebrated in Scandinavian and Baltic countries, as well as in other parts of Europe and the world.

Example of Midsummer celebration in Sweden:

On what day is Midsummer celebrated?
The party often starts on Midsummer Day itself, on June 21, and usually lasts until the day after. The summer solstice, also known as midsummer, is the longest day in the northern hemisphere with 16 hours, 16 minutes, and 47 seconds of sunlight.

What are characteristic elements of a Midsummer celebration?
People come together to dance, sing, eat and drink. An important symbol of the midsummer festival is the maypole, which is decorated with flowers and ribbons and is raised during the festival. I was able to collect a few signature elements in short videos – these are from a girl from the Netherlands who actually celebrates Midsummer in Sweden:
1. Making the Maypole
The maypole is a decorated tree or pole that is placed upright and often surrounded by dancing and partying people. The maypole is an important symbol during the midsummer festival and stands for fertility, renewal, connection and the power of cooperation and community.

2. Making a wreath of flowers and the girls have dresses on

3. The Maypole!

4. The different dances and music

Midsummer Festival and Spiritual Meaning
The midsummer festival also has a spiritual significance. It is seen as a moment of transformation and renewal, where old patterns and habits are released and new plans and goals are made. It is also a moment of connection with nature and the elements, such as fire, water and air.

Midsummer celebration varies by country
Over time, different versions of the midsummer festival have emerged, depending on the region and culture. For example, in Sweden, the festival is celebrated with a big feast, where traditional dishes such as herring and potatoes are served, while in Latvia and Estonia, the midsummer festival is mainly about making wreaths and collecting medicinal herbs.

This puzzle is in 1 or more search books

This puzzle is in 1 or more search books by Jan van Haasteren. These are not only fun search books to search for recurring elements, you can also ideally use the image of this puzzle as an 'extra' large poster while puzzling! View the overview with our 'Jan van Haasteren search books'

The Holdson Funny World (HFW) edition is a rare edition

This is a rare puzzle.

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Name Puzzle
Price
Number of Pieces
Number
Year of Issue
Issue by
draftsman
Description
Review - 1

Laying the puzzle

I always make the puzzle on a puzzle mat. Because I hardly ever finish it in 1 day, but it often takes several days or weeks.
It is a very fun puzzle to make. I've had to figure out a few things about what exactly the Midsummer Festival is. The location of the puzzle is Sweden. Why? This can be recognized by a few elements that Rob Derks has included in the puzzle. Those are the following:
1. Ice hockey

2. Pippi Longstocking and Tommy and Annika

Who was Pippi Longstocking? Pippi Longstocking is a well-known character from the children's book series written by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. She is a little girl with red braids and has a very adventurous and independent personality. Pippi Longstocking lives alone in Villa Kakelbont, her colorful house, together with her monkey Mister Nilsson and her horse Kleine Witje. She has no parents and sails freely on the seven seas with her father, who is a sea captain. Pippi has a chest full of gold pieces and is very strong. Pippi is known for her unusual behavior and humor. She is extremely strong and can even lift her horse. She likes to have adventures and doesn't feel like going to school. Instead, she makes up her own rules and learns in her own way.
Who were Annika and Tommy? Two children, Annika and Tommy, live in a Swedish village. They dream of adventures every day. When a red-haired girl named Pippi Longstocking then moves into her house Villa Kakelbont, they become friends with her.

3. Bjorn Borg

Who was Bjorn Borg? Björn Borg was a famous Swedish tennis player who was born on June 6, 1956 and passed away on July 14, 2022. He is considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Borg was best known for his dominant play on clay courts and his distinctive style, including his long head of hair and headbands. Borg won a total of 11 Grand Slam titles, including five consecutive titles at Wimbledon (1976-1980) and six titles at Roland Garros (1974-1975, 1978-1981). He was the first male tennis player in the Open Era to win Wimbledon five times in a row. His intense rivalry with American tennis player John McEnroe in the late 70s and early 80s has become legendary and contributed to the popularity of the sport. In addition to his success at Grand Slam tournaments, Borg also won several other titles and reached the number 1 position in the world rankings. However, at the peak of his career, he decided to retire from tennis at just 26 years old, surprising many. Since his retirement, he has been involved in various business ventures and launched his own clothing line. Björn Borg is remembered as one of tennis' greatest icons, both for his sporting achievements and his unique style.
Characteristic were his beautiful fights with McEnroe, a legendary video about this:

4. Everts Kvintet Lars Nordblom
I found out about this because I went to the Museum in Harderwijk in May 2023 – 'All kidding aside'. And there you could see the notes that Rob Derks made in preparation for this puzzle. That's where I found the name of this band. Otherwise no one would have probably ever found out. So this band really exists! And he is almost exactly the same as in the puzzle. I have translated the text under the video below into Dutch:
“It is said that Everts Kvintett was founded in the early XNUMXs by a group of musical statesmen in Huseby, outside Växjö. Their job was to play on a set of A Midsummer Night's Dream that King Gustav V himself came to see. Since then, the quintet has become a sextet and has music as a sideline in addition to their regular state jobs. It is true that the group plays schlager, swing and jazz from the thirties until the rise of rock music. Evert's quintet wants to reproduce the music as it was, and to perform it as authentically as possible. It is also true that this music was something the members of the group despised as children. But now it has become one with the orchestra members.”

5. Nils Holgersson

The following video shows a snapshot of Nils Holgersson and the geese:

Who was Nils Holgersson? Nils Holgersson is a beautiful and fairytale story based on the book by Selma Lagerlöf (Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf was a Swedish writer, best known for her children's book Nils Holgersson's wondrous journey. In 1909 she was the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature and in 1914 she became a member of the Swedish Academy, the committee that awards the Nobel Prize for Literature) from 1906. In a nutshell: the little boy Nils lives on a farm but is very mean to the animals, as punishment a leprechaun casts a spell over him so that Nils becomes as small as a thumb. In his new helpless state, Nils befriends the geese and frees them from dangerous situations. As a reward, the gnome wants to make Nils big again, but Nils would rather go with the geese on a trip to Lapland.
6. Nu tar vi den – song by Nils Larsson from 2004
You see these words on the cap of the hunter being chased by the moose, you have to read very carefully but it can be seen:

This 'Nu tar vi den' is the Swedish song for 'O Dennenboom', you can listen to it here:

7. Sma grodorna
The song of the midsummer festival is 'Små grodorna', a sing-along about little frogs. I know this, because I also saw this note in the notes of Rob Derks in the museum in Harderwijk. Do you want to see what this looks like and what movements people make? See:

And then you immediately know why Rob Derks drew the boy scouts like that, those are movements that people make at 'Små grodorna':

Rob Derks's notes for the Midsummer Festival puzzle
With the permission of Rob Derks I was allowed to place the notes that were exhibited in the Museum in Harderwijk during the exhibition 'All madness on a Pieces', that is these two. TIP: Click on each image to enlarge the notes, otherwise they cannot be read!
1. Notes Rob Derk's Midsummer Festival

2. Notes Rob Derk's Midsummer Festival

I always make the puzzle on a puzzle mat, because I often make it spread over several days, and a puzzle mat cleans up nicely. You can also see that I always sort the straight pieces out immediately, so that I can start laying the edges first:

And here I have placed the edges, it sometimes happens that I have not sorted out all straight pieces, but that is not the case this time:

As you can see I'm going to put together all kinds of pieces with the same colors and the typical Swedish houses, that's what I started with. You can also see these houses in the puzzle 'Santa Claus Village (signed Rob Derks)' and 'South Pole Expedition (signed Rob Derks)':

and finally I finished the puzzle:

Review video about this puzzle

I made a review video about all the fun items from this puzzle and all recurring elements:

Two more very specific recurring elements that are characteristic of Rob Derks. These are the following:
1) AC/DC
This is very difficult to see, but on Santa's arm you can see AC/DC, Rob Derks' favorite rock band:

2) The beer brand D'N Drul
The beer brand for which Rob Derks signs the labels. So a bit of surreptitious advertising 🙂

How long will it take you to complete this 1000 piece puzzle?

I made the puzzle 'Midsummer Festival' in peace and it also took several days. Beautiful on a puzzle mat made on the floor in the living room. I do take the time, but not very precisely, it remains a hobby that puzzling! But to give you an idea how long it took me to complete this JvH puzzle of 1000 pieces:

• Explaining the pieces: 20 minutes
• Laying the edges = 25 minutes
• Laying the rest of the pieces = 4 hours and 15 minutes
• Which made me do this puzzle in total = 5 hours. It used to take me almost always 8 hours, but I have a special tip to be able to puzzle a lot faster

About Jumbo puzzles

Jumbo (not to be confused with our supermarket Jumbo!) makes toys, games and puzzles. Jumbo, for example, has made the very well-known games such as “Human don't get annoyed” and “Stratego” and “PimPamPet”. Games that have been around for generations and are still widely played by both young and old. Jumbo has been making and developing toys since about 1900. In the early years of the company, only toys from other countries were imported to the Netherlands. However, since about 1930 it was decided to also make their own toys, at the time manufacturing wooden toys, which was very popular at the time. Almost all toys in those years were made of wood. An important spearhead was that the toys made by Jumbo had to be of very good quality; it had to be as strong as an Elephant. An elephant had to stand on it! The red elephant has been the hallmark of Jumbo's games and puzzles for years. The name Jumbo and the red elephant together form the logo from about 1935. The Jumbo elephant is drawn by Mr. Möhr. He worked at an advertising agency and regularly signed for Hausemann & Hötte. Mr Möhr was at one point commissioned to design a beautiful new elephant logo for the Hausemann & Hötte toys. The logo has changed a bit since then. For example, the eye has grown over the years and has dropped slightly more, resulting in a friendlier elephant.

In the past, the elephant was not only used in the color red, but in all kinds of colors such as blue, yellow, black, white and green. All those colors were cozy and playful. For example, one time there was a yellow elephant on the box and the other time a red one. It was usually looked at which color best matched the color of the box. It was not until the end of the 60s that the red elephant was definitively chosen. Red is a color that stands out and attracts attention.

From 1945 Jumbo also started to focus on games made of cardboard. Jumbo has therefore been a guarantee for strong quality for years! Jumbo is a unique Dutch company with a rich history, with its head office in Zaandam. About 130 employees work for Jumbo. With a turnover of €75 million, Jumbo is a medium-sized European player in toys. Jumbo has sales offices in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. They export to more than 25 countries around the world.

In 1980 Jumbo starts the production of Jan van Haasteren Puzzles.

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