Revellers are set to flock to Britain's ancient Stonehenge on Tuesday evening to witness the summer solstice on June 21.
Every year, Salisbury Plain in England's Wiltshire throngs with pagans, druids, mystics and partygoers who gather to watch the sunrise on what is officially the first day of summer.
Home to what are perhaps the world's most famous monolithic stones, the site welcomes thousands of people annually for the midsummer festival celebrations.
And this year will be no exception, with the age-old relics at Britain’s most celebrated archaeological site ready to put on a show.
In fact, those attending this year could be in for a special treat as Venus, Mars and the crescent moon are set to align at twilight in a rare celestial gathering. The trio are also likely to be visible again after sunset on Wednesday, the longest day of the year.
Here's everything you need to know about this year's summer solstice gathering at Stonehenge, which celebrates the longest day and the shortest night in the Northern Hemisphere.
What is Stonehenge?
If you've never heard of Stonehenge before, the site is bound to be a mystery. Even if you're familiar with the ancient stones, the intrigue remains. Decidedly otherworldly, Stonehenge is more than 5,000 years old and was built as a temple – a place of ceremony, burial and celebration.
“It's likely people gathered at Stonehenge at both midsummer and midwinter solstices to conduct rituals and ceremonies,” said a representative for English Heritage, the charity that manages the historic site, on Instagram.
“We know it must have been important for them to align their monument with the sky, but we may never know why.”
An important place that means different things to different people, Stonehenge is also an impressive feat of engineering.
“The Stone Circle is a masterpiece of engineering, and building it would have taken huge effort from hundreds of well-organised people using only simple tools and technologies,” explains Heather Sebire, curator for English Heritage.
What is the summer solstice?
The word solstice comes from the Latin word for sun (sol) and to stand (sistere). It's the time of year when the position of the rising or setting sun stands still in its movement along the horizon.
Stonehenge is dramatic any day of the year, but watching the sun rise over the ancient grounds at solstice is a memorable moment.
In the ancient world, there was nothing more significant than the changing of the seasons and summer solstice marked the start of summer, and the death of spring, which is why it held such prominence.
Even without this reliance on nature, the event is a visual feast and marks the longest day of the year north of the equator.
“At dawn on summer solstice, rays of sun are channelled into the centre of the monument through a gap between two stones of the outer circle and through the opening to the central horseshoe of trilithons,” says Sebire.
A trilithon is a structure of two large vertical stones supporting a third stone set horizontally across the top.
“Originally, the dawn light would have struck the Altar Stone which originally stood before the horseshoes tallest pair but which now lies beneath the fallen pillar of the central trilithon.”
How to watch the 2023 summer solstice at Stonehenge
Stonehenge will close to tourism during summer solstice and instead open free of charge to those looking to celebrate solstice. Revellers will be welcomed to the ancient site on Tuesday evening, with celebrations taking place throughout the evening until daybreak on Wednesday.
English Heritage will live-stream the event from Stonehenge across its social media pages so that people around the world can tune in to catch the celestial moment. There are two streams, one that starts at 8.30pm (UK time) on Tuesday and a second that will run from 4am (UK time) on Wednesday.
Visitors keen to experience the skies above Stonehenge and learn more about the solar alignment at the famous stone circle, can also visit Skyscape for live-feed video of this ancient site on any day of the year.
Why do people dress up for summer solstice at Stonehenge?
The solstice is a time of festivity for many people, which is why many of those attending Stonehenge for the event wear brightly coloured clothes and garlands.
Gold, yellow and red clothes that match the energy of the rising sun are popular, as are flowers such as lavender and sunflowers, which have long been associated with Midsummer.
Given the vast amount of history and ongoing mystery surrounding ancient Stonehenge, there is no one answer on what people should wear when visiting the site.
What happens in the UAE during summer solstice?
The summer solstice officially marks the beginning of the season in the Northern Hemisphere. It's also the longest day of the year and the shortest night for many countries.
Following the event, daylight hours slowly begin to decrease until the Autumnal Equinox in late September which is when there is typically an equal amount of daylight and darkness.
In the UK on Thursday, there will be about 17 hours of daylight – which is about nine hours more daylight than the country typically sees during the winter solstice in December. Sunset is scheduled for around 9.30pm on Thursday in the UK and this will gradually get earlier post solstice.
The further from the North Pole countries are, the less noticeable the difference is, so in the UAE, the seasonal changes are not as obvious.
Daylight hours in the UAE have increased marginally ahead of the solstice, with about 13 hours of sunshine predicted on Wednesday and sunset taking place at 7.13pm. This will also begin to decrease post solstice and by late September, there will only be 12 hours of sunshine per day with sunsets happening earlier at around 6pm.
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Directed by: Stefano Sollima
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4/5
MATCH DETAILS
Juventus 2 (Bonucci 36, Ronaldo 90 6)
Genoa 1 (Kouame 40)
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Brief scoreline:
Toss: South Africa, elected to bowl first
England (311-8): Stokes 89, Morgan 57, Roy 54, Root 51; Ngidi 3-66
South Africa (207): De Kock 68, Van der Dussen 50; Archer 3-27, Stokes 2-12
Closing the loophole on sugary drinks
As The National reported last year, non-fizzy sugared drinks were not covered when the original tax was introduced in 2017. Sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, 20 grams of sugar per 500ml bottle.
The non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.
Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.
Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
Not taxed:
Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.
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Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
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Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
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Basquiat in Abu Dhabi
One of Basquiat’s paintings, the vibrant Cabra (1981–82), now hangs in Louvre Abu Dhabi temporarily, on loan from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
The latter museum is not open physically, but has assembled a collection and puts together a series of events called Talking Art, such as this discussion, moderated by writer Chaedria LaBouvier.
It's something of a Basquiat season in Abu Dhabi at the moment. Last week, The Radiant Child, a documentary on Basquiat was shown at Manarat Al Saadiyat, and tonight (April 18) the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is throwing the re-creation of a party tonight, of the legendary Canal Zone party thrown in 1979, which epitomised the collaborative scene of the time. It was at Canal Zone that Basquiat met prominent members of the art world and moved from unknown graffiti artist into someone in the spotlight.
“We’ve invited local resident arists, we’ll have spray cans at the ready,” says curator Maisa Al Qassemi of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi's Canal Zone Remix is at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Thursday April 18, from 8pm. Free entry to all. Basquiat's Cabra is on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi until October
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UK-EU trade at a glance
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Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
Brief scores:
Toss: Sindhis, elected to field first
Kerala Knights 103-7 (10 ov)
Parnell 59 not out; Tambe 5-15
Sindhis 104-1 (7.4 ov)
Watson 50 not out, Devcich 49
