A large crowd partied through the night and into the morning, with special managed access to the Stonehenge stone circle extended until 8:30 a.m. on Sunday as people celebrated the summer solstice. 

“As the sun rose on the year’s longest day, we welcomed more than 20,000 people to celebrate together, with thousands more joining via our livestream from across the wolrd,” English Heritage, which administers the Stonehenge site, said on Sunday. 

On June 21, the Earth’s northern hemisphere is titled furthest towards the sun, resulting in the longest day of the year. The reverse is the case in the southern hemisphere, which has its longest day on December 21. 

The prehistoric megalithic stone circle on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire in southwest England appears to have been built to align with the sun’s path on these days. 

Why did crowd control start to be implemented at Stonehenge? 

As of 1978, public access to Stonehenge started to be restricted — with visitors no longer free to walk among the stones — a response to cases of vandalism and increased erosion as a result of rapidly rising tourist numbers. 

Modern-era solstice gatherings had first started as early as the mid 19th century, assisted by train access to nearby Salisbury. 

These rather more anarchic and freeform events came to a violent halt in 1985, when police and a group of hundreds of New Age travelers calling themselves The Peace Convoy clashed in what came to be known as the Battle of Beanfield. 

As police tried to enforce an injunction to stop the convoy obtained by local authorities, at first with a roadblock, more than 500 people were ultimately arrested.

It was one of the largest mass-arrest events in Britain at least since World War II. Allegations of police misconduct and of violence against officers circulated on both sides.

How do the modern-era solstice celebrations work? 

As of 2000, English Heritage started opening up the Stonehenge site for the two solsitces — as well as the spring and autumn equinoxes — for managed entry. The events have gathered momentum since.

Parking is pre-paid, booking-only, and in 2026 the fees rose another 5 pounds to 25 pounds (roughly €28.20 or $33.20). Spaces sold out, and English Heritage warned people not to park on the roadside of the A303 or the other busy trunk roads passing the site — a key route connecting the southwest to London — saying cars would be towed.

Instead, special buses from Salisbury ferried other revelers to the site. 

What else is happening on summer solstice in Europe?

The weather surely fits the bill on the first day of the astronomical summer in the northern hemisphere, with the UK and much of Europe facing severe heat warnings. 

Temperatures were compartively modest in the Salisbury area by national standards on Sunday, with highs of 29 degrees Celsius (84.2 Fahrenheit) forecast. 

In France, though, the government forbade the public consumption of alcohol amid the Music Day celebrations marking the summer solstice. These involve thousands of concerts in village squares, rave venues and Paris clubs, bringing communities together and increasingly drawing international visitors.

Sweden’s Midsummer celebrations, that began as early as Friday, might have suffered a setback on Saturday with the country’s 5-1 trouncing at the hands of the Netherlands in the World Cup.

Perhaps predictably, Scandinavian temperatures are much more conducive to outdoor revelry at present, even amid the heat wave to the south. 

Edited by: Zac Crellin

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