Stonehenge Winter Solstice live stream from English Heritage Wednesday 22 December 2021

How many of us will be awake, watching this thing in the middle of the night/early hours of the morning here in the USA??

For anyone wanting to watch it on YouTube, here's the English Heritage exact page for the event.
Says "Live in 33 hours. Time will be December 22, 1:20 AM".
(For me in the Central Time Zone of the U.S.A.)
Be sure to figure accurately when this will occur in your time zone.

Stream Starts: 07:25 GMT (approx.)
Sunrise Time: 08:09 GMT (approx.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd2GHhnI4Ys

You can click on a bell that says "Reminder On".

The Druid and Pagan communities in the Stonehenge area will be pretty excited right about now, anticipating the event.
I wonder if there will be the usual crowd there, a small crowd, or no crowd this year.
Cheers to anyone else who will be watching.

Thanks for the information Rebecca, but I think I prefer my pillow to the festivities at that hour.

If you live on the west coast US you can watch at 12:08 AM of the 22nd, an 8 hour difference.

I watched the Summer Solstice in 2020. They were accepting donations online during the stream - did a pretty good job of raising money (and I am sure it was needed about then).

Thanks so much for this -- definitely worth staying up for, IMO!

I've always been intrigued by Stonehenge and the innumerable other stone circles in the British Isles. We did a trip in 2015 focusing on visiting some of the most popular ones and it was one of the best experiences of my life!

Thank you Rebecca and thank you Kathleen for helpfully figuring out the time for those of us in the Pacific time zone!

Thank you so much! I'll be up. I live in the NL and have a dog that expects to be fed at 6 a.m. Easy peasy.

The weather forecast looks good, sunny intervals and a brisk 5c. I've got my charity work on Wednesday so wouldn't be able to go even if I wanted however the crowds and the participants would put me off.

@ Rebecca

Thanks. A particularly useful post. Did not know about this you tube cast. Sunrise in UK will be circa 7.11 pm for me, sunset at 8.11 pm in Hobart. Summer solstice. Get to experience both at nearly the same time.

In normal times would sit back and crack open a stubbie of beer or two and enjoy the event. However, my liver needs rest after celebrations following the complete capitulation of the Poms batting line-up in the first two tests. Looking forward to further celebrations commencing with the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, especially if the Poms continue to play bowlers who are about to qualify for the old age pension.

In the meantime, I will settle for a cup of Earl Grey or two as I watch; sunrise, sunset swiftly flow the days.

Regards
Ron

Glad to see that so many are interested. I'll be sipping a cup of Earl Grey Decaf in the early hours of the morning and watching.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd2GHhnI4Ys

From the English Heritage YouTube page:

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
WHAT TIME WILL YOU BE LIVE?
Sunrise is at 08:09 GMT on Wednesday 22nd December. We'll be live for about 45 minutes before and after, from approximately 07:25 until 08:55.
WHAT TIME IS THAT WHERE I LIVE?
Sunrise time conversion: https://bit.ly/3lrwtzV
IS IT FREE?
Our coverage is available free of charge but if you'd like to support our work you can make a donation here: https://bit.ly/3sereaQ Beware of fake/scam streams that may ask for your credit card details. We'll never do this. Only watch the Solstice on the official English Heritage channel!
HOW DO I WATCH?
Make sure you're subscribed to us to get a notification when we go live. You can also tap 'Set Reminder' on the player above to make sure you join us in plenty of time.
CAN I WATCH FROM OUTSIDE THE UK?
Yes! You don't need to be in the UK to enjoy this year's winter solstice. With our live stream, you can watch from anywhere in the world.
WILL I BE ABLE TO WATCH AT ANOTHER TIME?
The live stream will be saved as a video on our channel so you can watch again or catch up at a later time. But we recommend watching live if you can to enjoy this unique event in real-time with viewers all around the world.

For some reason the You Tube reminder setting is telling me it will go live at 2:20 am Eastern (US) time, but that's only 7:20 in England. When I use the URL to convert the time, it shows (correctly, I think) that sunrise in the UK at 8:09 will be 3:09 Eastern time. Is the You Tube automatic reminder just being extra careful to wake people up before the action begins?

Well, the live broadcast just finished. Thank you, Rebecca, for the heads-up on the video. I hadn’t expected a soundtrack of mood music. The aerial view, interspersed with ground shots from 2 or 3 different angles, provided a variety of perspectives.

Early on, it was surprising seeing the headlights from traffic passing in the distance, and some vehicles were going a lot faster than others! The stone circle was still quite dark, and the stones were pretty unrecognizable, maybe because the crowd gathered around them made individual towers and slabs unidentifiable. As the scene got lighter with the rising sun, stones viewed from the ground became more distinct, along with spectators moving about. Talk about moving - few people stood still very long. Maybe that was the job for the stone circle, and people were expected to walk, or even run, around the area. Then towards the end of the show, the movements seemed to be clearly of the majority of people walking away, even as some walked towards the stones.

A few people were carrying cameras on big tripods. One guy seemed to be dressed in furs, with a headdress similar to the guy at the U.S. Capitol building riot earlier this year. Even in his ancient(?), druidlike(?) attire, he, too, was sporting a camera, and stopped in front of the YouTube camera to take pictures of the stones.

OK, so it’s time for me to get back to sleep, and maybe I can rewitness today’s winter sunrise in person, here in Colorado, in a few hours. The daylight hours will be getting longer and longer for the next 6 months!

Oh, I noticed that the English Heritage site has lots of recordings, including making Ice Cream the Victorian way. That could also be worth viewing!

I didn't watch this morning but did look out at sunrise here in the East of England which had beautiful rosy fingers of dawn which was very lovely to see and bathed the bedroom in a lovely rosy colour. And I saw the photos from Stonehenge on the news which were similar.

As far as the people moving about, when I opened the curtains this morning it was minus 3 here. Don't know what the temperature was at Stonehenge but fact that the sunrise was visible meant that they had had clear skies overnight (me too, the moon last night was lovely) and clear skies mean cold temperatures as the heat radiates away....

If I had been standing still outside at dawn I would have been moving around too...

Well, not an early riser, I happened to wake up just before sunrise - 7:18 A.M., Mountain Standard Time Zone - and got outside, to observe. It was above Freezing, with a slight breeze, and unusual patches of cirrus clouds in the sky. Nothing rosy or red, but the almost-full moon shone brightly in the northwestern sky.

Arriving at a spot a block and half from the house that afforded an unobstructed view of the horizon to the southeast, the glaring light appearing at the edge showed the sun was just beginning to rise into view. The light was a brilliant golden yellow, and all was surprisingly quiet, and then a few hoots of a nearby owl were audible. No other people, then three who were walking dogs, and no Neolithic structures. With the live video, Stonehenge’s sunrise certainly got more publicity.

Not only at the Henge of the Stones but folks were up early at other sites in the UK and Ireland

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2021/dec/21/winter-solstice-2021-celebrations-in-pictures

Thanks to everyone who commented here, thanks for being interested.

We stayed up and watched but had invited the next door neighbors over, and then my husband had invited our grandsons, so they came over. We all gathered in the living room and watched the YouTube feed on TV. The good part about this turning into a "Stonehenge Watch" party is that our two grandsons (18 and 19) are now interested in going to England with us next year. Stonehenge is now on their must-see list.
The next door neighbors are now convinced they must take the Rick Steves Southern England tour, so that's a good thing.

The bad part about the "Stonehenge Watch" party is that I couldn't leave them all to come to the computer and post here while the event was going on.
Plus I had to fix cookies and hot chocolate for everyone.
Well, that was not really bad; it was delicious.
When everyone left, I got really sleepy immediately and went to sleep.

I thought there was perhaps one-fourth of the usual crowd at Stonehenge. Maybe attendance was down because of the cold weather.
The skies were clear and beautiful, I thought.

epitd, to answer your question (although it's a moot point now): "Is the YouTube automatic reminder just being extra careful to wake people up before the action begins?"--Yes.

Cyn, thanks for your excellent description of the minute-by-minute action there at Stonehenge.
The strangely dressed guy you speak of is there every year. He seems to serve as the Druids master of ceremonies.
Our sunset here yesterday evening was painted with orange and hot pink; something we never see here; so maybe there's something mystical about this Winter Solstice after all......

Nigel, thanks for the report from your area about the rosy skies. There was really something special about this morning. Yes, with those cold temperatures I would also have been moving around to keep warm if I'd been at Stonehenge!

Cyn, thanks for the details of dawn in your area.

ramblin' on, thanks for the link to the article about other gatherings at other stone circles and sites.
Most interesting that ceremonies/celebrations were taking place at many other sites.
We've been to Castlerigg stone circle near Keswick, Cumbria. And hope to go to Newgrange, Ireland some day.

While reading a biography of Sir Winston Churchill I discovered that he was a member of the Ancient Order of Druids. There was a photograph of him when he was young, with several men lined up for a group photo, taken at Stonehenge. Under the photo it said, "The Ancient Order of Druids" and gave all their names.

Photos from other years taken at Stonehenge:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/gallery/2014/dec/22/winter-solstice-2014-celebrations-at-stonehenge-in-pictures
The guy in the robes calls himself Arthur Pendragon and lives in Salisbury. He is also shown "knighting" someone with a sword, and performing a ceremony that seems to be a Druid marriage, joining the wrists of two people with ribbon.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/gallery/2017/dec/22/unicorns-selfies-winter-solstice-stonehenge-in-pictures

all these photos remind me of The Wicker Man!

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/may/31/the-wicker-man-1973-folk-horror-endures-to-this-day-as-a-masterpiece-of-the-form

ramblin' on, now I must see "The Wicker Man". I had never heard of it before, but any movie with Christopher Lee and Edward Woodward can't be all bad.

Indeed, the Romans wrote into their history of Britain, that the pagans and druids were violent cannibals. But of course, that could be just an excuse as to why the Romans killed them all.

Ironic that the Romans who were invading Britain called someone ELSE brutal and violent.

Rebecca, you MUST watch The Wicker Man (not the remake with Nicholas Cage), it is an absolute classic and one I've watched over and over again.

I am surprised there is that much interest. The sun was up at the same time yesterday too.

There’s no way I would be walking or standing around for ages on such a cold morning. My black car was white with frost until mid morning.

JC, I will definitely find the original version of "Wicker Man" and watch it. You've both gotten me very curious now about it.

Jennifer, sensible as usual! And the best advice, too. I'm afraid I wouldn't venture out there either into the cold.

Saw "The Wicker Man" on TV one night as a teen and the ending freaked me out. I also made the mistake of watching the remake. Horrifying in a different way.

heather, uh-oh! I don't really like scary movies, but I feel I must see the original.
The re-make, not going to see it.
Thanks for the warning!