Summer solstice rituals celebrate the longest day of the year, which falls on or around 21 June in the Northern Hemisphere and around 21 December in the Southern. Most of them share a few simple ingredients: getting up for the sunrise or staying out for the sunset, lighting a fire, wearing or gathering flowers and spending as much of the day outdoors as possible. In modern paganism the festival is often called Litha; elsewhere it's simply Midsummer.
What happens at the summer solstice
The solstice is the moment the Sun reaches its northernmost point in the sky, directly overhead at the Tropic of Cancer. North of the equator, that means the longest day and the shortest night of the year. The word comes from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still), because for a few days the Sun's rising and setting points seem to pause before turning back.
A few things surprise people:
- It isn't the hottest day. Land and sea take weeks to warm up, so the warmest part of summer usually comes later, in July or August.
- It doesn't have the earliest sunrise. At mid-northern latitudes, the earliest sunrise comes about a week before the solstice and the latest sunset about a week after, because of the slightly uneven way solar time runs through the year.
- It begins Cancer season. In Western tropical astrology, the June solstice is the moment the Sun enters Cancer, the sign of home and family. Read more about Cancer traits.
Because the date depends on the Sun's exact position, it can fall on 20, 21 or occasionally 22 June depending on the year and your time zone.
How Midsummer is celebrated around the world
Stonehenge
The best-known solstice gathering in Britain. On the longest day, the Sun rises behind the Heel Stone, just outside the circle, and its first light reaches into the center of the monument. English Heritage opens the site for the solstice sunrise, and thousands of people come, including druids and pagans for whom it's a religious occasion. What the builders intended is still debated, but the alignment is real.
Swedish Midsommar
For many Swedes, Midsummer Eve, held on the Friday between 19 and 25 June, is one of the biggest days of the year. People raise a leafy maypole decorated with flowers, dance around it (including a famous song about little frogs), wear flower crowns and eat pickled herring, new potatoes and strawberries. An old folk custom says that if you pick seven different wildflowers in silence and sleep with them under your pillow, you'll dream of your future partner.
St John's Eve bonfires
In much of Christian Europe, Midsummer merged with the feast of St John the Baptist on 24 June, and the night before is lit with bonfires. In parts of Ireland it's still known as Bonfire Night, and on beaches in Spain, the Night of San Juan brings fires, music and dips in the sea at midnight.
Kupala Night
In Ukraine, Belarus, Poland and other Slavic countries, Midsummer night traditions include jumping over fires, floating flower wreaths down a river and searching the woods for the legendary fern flower, which was said to bloom only on that one night.
Inti Raymi
In Cusco, Peru, the Inca festival of the Sun is held on 24 June, close to the Southern Hemisphere's winter solstice. Banned in the colonial era, it was revived as a large theatrical celebration at the Sacsayhuamán fortress in 1944 and is now one of the biggest festivals in South America.
Is Litha an old name for the solstice?
Partly. The word comes from the eighth-century English monk Bede, who recorded that the Anglo-Saxons called the months around June and July Litha. Its use as the name of a solstice festival is modern: the American pagan writer Aidan Kelly proposed it in the 1970s when naming the solar festivals of the Wheel of the Year, and it caught on. Many pagans use Litha; others prefer Midsummer, which has a much longer history in English. Our guide to the Wheel of the Year explains where all eight festival names come from.
Seven summer solstice rituals to try
- Watch the sunrise. Find an east-facing spot, set an alarm, bring a flask and something warm to wear, and watch the longest day begin. Many people find that the quiet first hour is the whole ritual.
- Stay out for the sunset. If dawn isn't for you, the long evening is just as good. Eat outside and notice how late the light lingers.
- Make a flower crown or wreath. Weave garden flowers and soft greenery onto a ring of flexible stems or wire. Hang it on the door afterward, or float a small one on a pond, Kupala style.
- Write a list of what's in full bloom. Midsummer is the peak of the light. Write down what's going well right now, in work, friendship, health or home, and thank yourself for it. A gratitude ritual is a natural fit for the longest day.
- Light a fire, safely. A fire pit, a barbecue or even a single candle on the table. Check local fire restrictions, keep water nearby and never leave a flame unattended. Our candle ritual for beginners covers safe candle use indoors.
- Gather herbs. Many European traditions gathered herbs at Midsummer, including St John's wort, which flowers around now. Enjoy it in a vase, but don't take it as a remedy without asking a doctor: it interacts with many common medicines.
- Turn toward the dark half. From the solstice, the days begin to shorten. Some people mark this by choosing one thing to slow down or wind up before autumn. The year's other turning point, the longest night, is covered in our winter solstice rituals.
Sun safety applies: never look directly at the Sun, even at sunrise, and bring water and sun protection for a long day outdoors.
The tarot card for this day is unmistakably the Sun, a picture of warmth, clarity and things growing in full light.
Questions readers ask
When is Litha?
Litha is celebrated at the summer solstice, on or around 21 June in the Northern Hemisphere and around 21 December in the Southern Hemisphere. The exact date shifts by a day or so depending on the year and time zone.
What do people do on the summer solstice?
Common traditions include watching the sunrise or sunset, bonfires, flower crowns, maypoles in Sweden, gatherings at ancient sites such as Stonehenge and long meals outdoors. Many people also use the day to reflect on what has grown in the first half of the year.
Is the summer solstice the longest day of the year?
Yes, in the hemisphere where it's summer. It has the most hours of daylight, although it isn't usually the day with the earliest sunrise or the latest sunset, and it's rarely the hottest day.
Is Midsummer the same as the summer solstice?
They're closely linked. The solstice is the astronomical moment; Midsummer is the traditional festival around it, which in many countries is celebrated on 23 or 24 June, around the feast of St John.