Dawn dawned at Stonehenge on Saturday as thousands of people celebrated the winter solstice with cheers and applause.
Those observing the scene at a Neolithic monument in Wiltshire were met with a windy morning that marked the shortest day of the year.
As the sun rose at 8:09 a.m., drums, chants, and songs echoed in waves. There were less than eight hours of daylight on Saturday, but the days will get longer until the summer solstice on June 21st.
Stonehenge was built to coincide with sunrise in midsummer and sunset in midwinter. It is believed that the summer solstice has been celebrated here for thousands of years.
Chris Smith, 31, who visited Stonehenge for the first time on the winter solstice, said he was there because of the “spiritual appeal of the area”.
The civil servant said: “This is all about renewal, renewal and although we are entering a new year, it is also a good time to recognize what has happened in the past year.
“It's been a bit of a turbulent year for me. A lot has happened in the past 24 months. And this is a great way to consolidate everything that's happened this year and put it to rest in this world. It's an opportunity to move past the past and move forward into the next new year. ”
He added: I mean, if you look around, everyone's here and there's so much energy in the space.
“We have people from all walks of life here. This is community. And I think that's really important in this day and age.”
Julie Heifer said she felt it was “really important to come and respect the annual cycle.”
The dates of the equinoxes and solstices are different because the Gregorian calendar does not exactly match the length of the tropical year, or the time it takes for the Earth to orbit the sun. Leap days are introduced every four years to readjust the calendar to the tropical year, and when this occurs, the dates of the equinoxes and solstices revert to their previous dates.
Steve Backes, Stonehenge Director at English Heritage, said: “It was wonderful to welcome around 4,500 people to Stonehenge this morning to celebrate the winter solstice. We also welcomed over 100,000 people from all over the world. I'm glad that people watched the live broadcast online.”
“It was a fun and peaceful celebration even though the sun didn't come out. It was great to see so many families enjoying themselves around the memorial.”
