{"id":327889,"date":"2025-12-21T09:06:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-21T09:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/327889\/"},"modified":"2025-12-21T09:06:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-21T09:06:09","slug":"thousands-watch-as-sun-rises-over-stonehenge-on-winter-solstice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/327889\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands watch as Sun rises over Stonehenge on winter solstice"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A quick look at winter solstice celebrations around the worldpublished at 08:45 GMT<\/p>\n<p>08:45 GMT<\/p>\n<p>      <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A woman picks up a pomegranate fruit from a pile\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/410f1516-3850-4e67-88cb-07783165b280.jpg.webp.webp\"  width=\"1022\" height=\"575\" class=\"ssrcss-11yxrdo-Image edrdn950\"\/>Image source, NurPhoto\/Getty ImagesImage caption, <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">In Iran, pomegranates are a big part of the celebrations<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere is marked by different events and traditions around the world.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">In Iran and Central Asia, many celebrate the Persian festival of Yalda, with families and friends gathering &#8211; often staying awake all night to eat, drink and read poetry. Nuts and fruits, especially red fruits like watermelon and pomegranate, are traditionally eaten. The occasion celebrates the triumph of light over darkness.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A woman is seen meditating on the floor as people gather to witness the winter solstice on December 21, 2022 in Newgrange, Ireland\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/bd2a318a-03ed-48b5-a161-6f5d3dd9ecf7.jpg.webp.webp\"  width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" class=\"ssrcss-11yxrdo-Image edrdn950\"\/>Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Crowds gather at Newgrange in Ireland to watch the sun<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">In Ireland, people gather at Newgrange in County Meath. The mound is thought to be older than Stonehenge, dating from 3200 BC. A gap in the structure is positioned so that during the shortest days of the year, the dawn sunlight illuminates an inner chamber.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">In China, today is the Dongzhi festival, which roughly translates as &#8220;winter\u2019s arrival&#8221;. Families get together to share a meal with traditional foods, such as rice balls called Tang yuan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">And for perhaps the coldest winter solstice celebration &#8211; in Antarctica &#8211; some scientists at research stations mark the slow return of the sun by cutting a hole in the ice and taking a freezing cold dip.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Two women smile at the camera as they hold up trays with dumplings on them\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/9f0e4fb0-eef5-4981-a6b0-be4fc190beea.jpg.webp.webp\"  width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" class=\"ssrcss-11yxrdo-Image edrdn950\"\/>Image source, VCG\/Getty ImagesImage caption, <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Some parts of China also make and eat dumplings during the festivities<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A quick look at winter solstice celebrations around the worldpublished at 08:45 GMT 08:45 GMT Image source, NurPhoto\/Getty&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":327890,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-327889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}