Next: about 21 Jun 2027
Summer solstice at Stonehenge
Thousands gather at Stonehenge to greet the longest day, among them Druids, Pagans and visitors, as the sun rises over the Heel Stone.
About Summer solstice at Stonehenge
Stonehenge in Wiltshire is aligned to the midsummer sunrise and the midwinter sunset, and English Heritage opens it for the solstice. Druid orders have held rites there since the early twentieth century, and the gathering has been a Pagan pilgrimage and a large public event, with drumming, chanting and dancing at dawn. There is no evidence that ancient Druids used the monument, which was built thousands of years earlier, a point archaeologists make often, but modern Druids hold their own tradition. The relationship between the site, the authorities and the Pagan community has been fraught, notably in the 1985 Battle of the Beanfield. The solstice falls on 20 or 21 June.
Also part of it, and being written: Stonehenge (The monument.), Summer solstice (The astronomical event.), Druid (The ancient priests and their modern revival.), Modern paganism (The movement that gathers there.).
Written by the EveryJaadu desk with AI assistance. Background: "Stonehenge" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family, and are described as belief and practice. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.