Post date: Jun 21, 2013 4:44:32 PM
More than 20,000 people celebrate the summer solstice at Stonehenge in the English county of Wiltshire, though cloudy skies prevent them from basking in a beautiful sunrise.
WILTSHIRE, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (JUNE 21, 2013) (ITN) - More than 20,000 people celebrated the summer solstice at Stonehengein Wiltshire, England on Friday (June 21), despite a clear lack of sunshine.
The huge gathering of people marked the event in a "positive, friendly atmosphere" as they waited for the sun to come up, but cloudy skies prevented them from basking in a beautiful sunrise.The Summer and Winter solstices are celebrated each year by pagans and druids across the UK, with the largest gatherings at the ancient monuments of Stonehengeand in nearby Avebury.
Druid Frank Summers said the celebrations of the solstice still adhered to old traditions, though they may have been tweaked a little.
"We stand in a circle so everybody's equal. The old fashioned way is to cast a circle but normally just walk round it three times and then we call in the four directions starting in the north to mother earth then to air then to fire and water," he said.
"The idea really is we're inviting our ancestors to be with us and to observe what we're doing," he added.
Very cloudy weather meant it was not possible to see the sunrise but it did not ruin the atmosphere for those who attended.
"The thing is it makes the times when the sun does come up even more exciting so it's like putting some excitement in the bank," Summers said.
Stonehenge is believed to have been used as an important religious site 4,000 years ago.