People have celebrated the Summer Solstice for thousands of years. In Ancient China, ceremonies were held to honor the force of Yin, or femininity. Vikings used the long midsummer days to convene meetings and hammer out legal matters between seafaring groups. They also made trips to healing wells to restore health and held bonfires to celebrate the longest day of the year. The Ancient Greek calendar places the holiday of Kronia near the solstice. During Kronia, Greece's customary social order was turned on its head as slaves and masters celebrated the holiday together, sometimes with masters even serving their slaves. The solstice has inspired a number of unique traditions around the world, and its clear that this astronomical event has a penchant for turning normal reality on its head in new and unexpected ways.
Iceland's Sunny "Secret Solstice Music Festival"
The solstice didn't just affect our ancient ancestors though. Summer solstice celebrations are still going strong all over the world. Some of these celebrations are based in rich traditions, and others have been created only recently. Either way, there is a lot more to these solstice celebrations than just dancing naked around a fire (although you're welcome to do that too). Here are some of my favorite ways that contemporary revelers mark the longest day of the year.
Iceland's Sunny "Secret Solstice Music Festival"
I think it's fair to say that Iceland isn't known as a party destination but when it comes to the summer solstice, they know how to have a good time. The capital of Reykjavik doesn't see night for about three days during the solstice because of how far north it is. During this time bars stay continually open and the city hosts a music festival called the Secret Solstice Music Festival.
Mountain Bonfires in Tirol, Austria
Every year the residents of Tirol Austria light fires in the surrounding mountains on the summer solstice. It is thought that the tradition was started in the Middle ages in order to worship the earth. Nowadays, people come from all over the world to witness the otherworldly sight of fires burning high in the rugged mountains around the town. The celebration is so popular that UNESCO made it one of Austria's Cultural Heritages in 2010. I've got to wonder how many onlookers are living out their lord of the rings fantasies and imagining the fires as the warning beacons of Gondor.
Watch the Eclipse
This year's solstice is especially interesting as an astronomical event because it falls on the day before an annular solar eclipse (June 21, 2020). This solar eclipse is also called a "ring of fire" eclipse because it the sun's light shines out around the moon, making it look like the moon is surrounded by a ring of fire. The eclipse will be visible from parts of Africa, the Middle East, and China. If you don't live in one of these areas, good news, there are still lots of places online where you can livestream the eclipse.
Yoga in Times Square
In the past years, people in New York City have celebrated the solstice by doing yoga in time square. This is a well loved tradition and another example of how things tend to be turned upside down during the summer solstice--imagine busy time square filled with people meditating and doing sun salutations. This year, the celebration continues online. Yoga instructor and co-founder of the celebration Douglass Stewart will be livestreaming yoga classes from time square so that people can practice from their own homes.
Sunrise at the Pyramids of Giza
Like many ancient monuments around the world, including Stonehenge and the Temple of the Sun at Machu Pichu, the Pyramids of Egypt align with the path of the sun during the summer solstice. They Pyramids were precisely positioned so that, when viewed from the Sphinx, the sun rises directly in between two pyramids on the solstice. It is fascinating to consider the scrupulous attention to detail that the builders had to have to make the pyramids line up so perfectly. There's a lot of theories out there about the Pyramids of Giza, but at the end of the day I'm as happy as the next person just to find a cool spot to watch the sunrise and this one tops the list.
Which of these summer solstice celebrations would you do?
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