At the beginning of summer each year, thousands of tourists flock to Stonehenge to celebrate the summer solstice, a.k.a. the first day of summer. They gather by the ancient monument to witness a remarkable event on the longest day of the year: the solstice sunrise. The summer solstice sunrise comes up above the stones in nearly perfect alignment. June 21, the date of the solstice, isn’t far away. Stonehenge will still be closed to crowds due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, the English Heritage organization is hoping to keep tourists away by turning to technology to share the event for the first time in the monument’s history.
They’re going to livestream the summer solstice at Stonehenge (via Mental Floss).
Flickr/ Stonehenge Stone Circle
It’s wild to consider. Think about it—thousands and thousands of years ago, druids likely gathered at this site. They witnessed the summer solstice sun rise above the horizon and over these towering stones in a beautiful harmony of nature. And now in this age, we can experience that through a livestream. No, watching a video won’t be the same as being there in person. However, for those who may not get to visit Stonehenge at any point, regardless of a pandemic, it’s a unique opportunity. It won’t be the same as watching a tourist’s social media video either. We’ll get to see the sunrise without a crush of human bodies blocking the view.
The English Heritage organization will stream the summer solstice sunrise from their Facebook page on the morning of Sunday, June 21 local time. That’s expected to be at 4:52am BST. They’ll start broadcasting at sunset on June 20. Get all the details here and remember to adjust the time to your local time zone.
Featured Image: Flickr/ Stonehenge Stone Circle
Amy Ratcliffe is the Managing Editor for Nerdist and the author of Star Wars: Women of the Galaxy. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.