LONDON —
A curious mix of druids, pagans, hippies, locals, tourists and costumed witches and wizards gathered at the prehistoric stone circle of Stonehenge on a plain in southern England on Wednesday to express their devotion to sun, or for a bit of fun, on the northern hemisphere’s first day of summer.
The attendees, many dressed in colorful costumes and even animal antlers, spent the night at Stonehenge and celebrated before receiving the sunrise on Wednesday, the longest day of the year in the hemisphere.
The sun rose behind the Heel Stone on the northeastern horizon, and the first rays illuminated the center of the stone circle .
The sky was clear, which is not always the case in the English summer.
The official start of summer brought optimism to Britain. It’s no coincidence that the nearby Glastonbury Festival, one of the world’s biggest music venues, also opens its doors this Wednesday. Both Stonehenge and Glastonbury lie on supposed ley lines, mystical energy connections across the country.
For the thousands of people who make the pilgrimage to Stonehenge, roughly 80 miles southwest of London, the matter is something else to wait for Elton John’s Glastonbury appearance or sip ciders in the sun.
Many of those at Stonehenge would be making the short 50-mile journey west to reach Glastonbury in the next few days.*100014 *
