Thousands Celebrate The 2015 Summer Solstice At Stonehenge

Thousands flocked to Stonehenge on Sunday, June 21, to celebrate the Summer Solstice and watch the sun rise and fall behind the famed stone circle.

23,000 People Celebrate The Summer Solstice At Stonehenge

Twenty-three thousand people reportedly embarked on a pilgrimage to Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain over the weekend to celebrate the longest day of the year, known as the summer solstice. Unfortunately for the massive crowd, the sun was only visible for a few short hours, but that didn’t stop them from playing music, dancing around the grass and kissing the stones. According to authorities, nine arrests were made for drug offenses – a surprisingly low number.

@PeoplesAstro Taken at the moment the sun appeared through the stones at Stonehenge. Happy Solstice!! pic.twitter.com/w9H75mzzPX

— Simon Minnican (@minnican) June 21, 2015

Stonehenge Summer Solstice 2015 pre-sunrise #Stonehenge pic.twitter.com/zQZhg91N11

— Nikki Pike (@Nikki_P_1) June 21, 2015

Stonehenge solstice pic.twitter.com/yGSdLxLDJO

— Stonehenge U.K (@ST0NEHENGE) June 20, 2015

Stonehenge #summersolstice pic.twitter.com/y2wDfH1y1b

— Stonehenge U.K (@ST0NEHENGE) June 20, 2015

Meanwhile, the Summer Solstice proved the perfect occasion to test a recent theory that the stones aligned perfectly with the sunset. Tim Daw, a steward of Stonehenge, found that he could predict how the sunset would align with the stones at the historic site. “I put forward this theory. I said ‘this stone, the sun will set along its back’ [on] Midsummer. Yes it did,” Daw told BBC.

“[There was a wonderful sunset last night. We could see the sun going down directly in line with… the back of his stone. It was fantastic,” Daw added.

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