UDare – Summer Solstice PICNIC IN HYDE PARK – Sunday 21st June 2009
A Celebration of Summer (We all love it don’t we!) on the ancient ‘Midsummer’ day.

London in the summer time is great!
UDarers are full of sunshine, picnics are fantastic, the summer is wonderful and Hyde Park is happening –so we’re combining them all.

Chill out, chit chat, eat good food, drink some juice/wine/beer (whatever), laugh, play and be happy ;-)
All you need to do is just bring your own food/drink, something to sit on and a good vibe!!

Enter Hyde Park at the ‘Lancaster Gate’ entrance, the picnic will be situated just over to the right (see red o in picture)
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As a major celestial event, the Summer Solstice results in the longest day and the shortest night of the year. Sol + stice derives from a combination of Latin words meaning "sun" + "to stand still."
As the days lengthen, the sun rises higher and higher until it seems to stand still in the sky.

Awed by the great power of the sun, civilizations in the northern areas have for centuries celebrated the first day of summer, otherwise known as the Summer Solstice, Midsummer.
The Celts & Slavs celebrated the first day of summer with dancing & bonfires to help increase the sun's energy. The Chinese marked the day by honouring Li, the Chinese Goddess of Light.

Perhaps the most enduring modern ties with Summer Solstice were the Druids' celebration of the day as the "wedding of Heaven and Earth", resulting in the present day belief of a "lucky" wedding in June.
Today, the day is still celebrated around the world - most notably in England at Stonehenge where thousands still gather to welcome the sunrise on the Summer Solstice.

Pagans called the Midsummer moon the "Honey Moon" for the mead made from fermented honey that was part of wedding ceremonies performed at the Summer Solstice.
Ancient Pagans celebrated Midsummer with bonfires, when couples would leap through the flames, believing their crops would grow as high as the couples were able to jump.