Viktor Drachev / AFP - Getty Images
Belarusian women drink and eat during a celebration of the pagan holiday of Rusalye, devoted to water nymphs, in the village of Sosny, Belarus, on June 10, 2012. According to legend, during the spring and summer mermaids come out of the water and visit the village, walking through fields and meadows.
Viktor Drachev / AFP - Getty Images
Villagers throw their crowns as they celebrate the pagan holiday of Rusalye in Sosny on June 10, 2012.
Around 18,000 neo-pagans, new agers and curious visitors gathered in heavy rain Tuesday morning to watch the sun rise over the ancient stone circle at Stonehenge in southern England, the AP reported.
The celebrations are a modern twist on solstice celebrations that were a highlight of the pre-Christian calendar.
There were cheers as the sun finally broke through the clouds more than a couple of hours after sunrise.
Kieran Doherty / Reuters
A druid plays a guitar during incantations at the summer solstice ceremony at Stonehenge on Salisbury plain in southern England on June 21. Stonehenge is a celebrated venue of festivities during the summer solstice - the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere - and it attracts thousands of revellers, spiritualists and tourists. Druids, a pagan religious order dating back to Celtic Britain, believe Stonehenge was a centre of spiritualism more than 2,000 years ago.
Kieran Doherty / Reuters
Two druids walk across Salisbury Plain after celebrating the summer solstice ceremony.
Matt Dunham / AP
Revellers hug a stone during the summer solstice at Stonehenge.
Matt Dunham / AP
Revelers cheer and raise their faces skyward as the sun finally breaks through the clouds more than a couple of hours after sunrise during the summer solstice at Stonehenge.
Read a story from space.com: What you don't know about the summer solstice and watch the video below.
Thousands of revelers and druids spent the night at England's Stonehenge to watch the sun rise and mark the summer solstice. TODAY.com's Dara Brown reports.
E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS