Stonehenge Winter Solstice Ceremony

Where: Stonehenge, Wiltshire
When: 21st or 22nd December
Time: Dawn (from around 7.30 am)

 

The Winter Solstice is marked each year at Stonehenge by a Druid Ceremony. The solstice is the shortest day, when the sun is at its most southerly and furthest from us ; it varies in date between the 21st and 22nd of December because the modern calendar does not exactly correspond with the solar calendar. Expect a crowd of up to a couple of thousand (much smaller than the Summer Solstice Celebrations) comprising druids, pagans and onlookers. It’s a religious service based around the sun rising, marking the turn of the year.

Helpful Hints

In 2024 it should be at sunrise on Saturday 21st December. For full details and exact access times keep checking the English Heritage link below for updates.

The event is free of charge for the ceremony – all must leave before it opens to the public as normal later in the day. Because it isn’t possible to use the fields as carparks in winter, access is more limited -check the English Heritage website below for further details.

Always double-check the solstice date and visitor information with English Heritage – because it varies slightly it’s not uncommon for people to turn up on the wrong day, and they only allow open access on one day for the ceremony.

Click here for more : http://www.stonehenge.co.uk/

and here for the English Heritage info : http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/stonehenge/

Photo by jetgerbil.

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