Sunday Is the Longest Day of the Year for Half the Planet. A Guide to the Summer Solstice
Across the Northern Hemisphere, communities mark the longest day with bonfires, maypoles and seasonal foods, while Stonehenge draws thousands at sunrise.
- On June 21, 2026, the Northern Hemisphere experienced the summer solstice, marking the year's longest period of daylight and shortest night as Earth leaned toward the sun.
- The solstice occurs when Earth is tipped most extremely toward the sun, creating unequal sunlight across the planet and marking the end of the sun's annual march higher in the sky.
- Traditions range from Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England, where thousands gather to celebrate the sunrise, to Chinese communities marking Xiazhi, the tenth of 24 solar terms, by eating noodles.
- In Nordic countries like Sweden, people participate in traditional Midsummer dances and raise maypoles, while others celebrate by admiring blooming lotus flowers in Tongling, Anhui Province.
- Following the solstice, daylight will gradually decrease until Dec, marking the sun's retreat, while meteorologists categorize the season differently, defining summer as beginning June 1 based on temperature cycles.
12 Articles
12 Articles
Sunday is the longest day of the year for half the planet. A guide to the summer solstice
Revelers gather at the ancient stone circle Stonehenge to celebrate the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, near Salisbury, England, on June 21, 2023. | Kin Cheung, Associated Press This is the sun’s time to shine: Sunday is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Sunday is the solstice, marking the start of astronomical summer north of the equator. It’s the opposite in the Southern Hemisphere, where it is the shortest …
Summer solstice: How people mark the longest day of the year
June 21 marks this year's summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, the day with the longest period of daylight and the shortest night of the year. Across cultures, the occasion is celebrated with a variety of customs and festivities.
Yesterday was the longest day, and the shortest night will be, also, that of St. John, although the Gencat says that it is not true, now that the lie of so liquid looks like the Nile or the Amazonas, according to the unit of measurement. It is true, the Night of St. John is the shortest traditionally, the night of the bonfires of the beach of A Lanzada. The night of the Alster, this June 20, was the astronomical one. It is as true to go out into…
TORREON, COAH.– This Sunday, June 21, the northern hemisphere celebrates the official arrival of summer, marking the day with the longest duration of sunlight of the entire calendar, in Torreon.The astronomical phenomenon, known as summer solstice, reached its peak this Sunday at 02:24 hours, Central Mexico time (equivalent to 08:24 GMT).This event occurs due to the Earth's position in its orbit: our planet has an axial inclination of approximat…
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