Thousands Celebrate Winter Solstice Sunrise at Stonehenge

Thousands of people cheered and danced Sunday around Stonehenge as the sun rose above the prehistoric stone circle on the winter solstice.

Attendees, many in costume, had gathered before dawn and waited patiently in the dark, cold field in southwest England. Some sang and played drums, while others took a moment to reflect among the enormous stone pillars.

Many make the pilgrimage to the stone circle each summer and winter and consider it a spiritual experience. The ancient monument, erected between 5,000 and 3,500 years ago, was built to align with the movement of the sun on the solstices, key dates in the calendar for ancient farmers.

Sunday is the shortest day of the year north of the equator, where the solstice marks the start of astronomical winter. It is the opposite in the Southern Hemisphere, where it is the longest day of the year and summer will begin.

The winter solstice occurs when the sun traces its shortest, lowest arc, but many celebrate it as a time of renewal because, starting Sunday, "the sun begins to rise again and the days will grow a little longer each day until late June."