Craziest summer solstice festivals from around the world

Craziest summer solstice festivals from around the world - How did you celebrate the summer solstice?

Even though it varies dramatically from place to place, the event, which fell on June 21 in 2018, is marked in most cultures across the planet.

Check out the most exuberant summer solstice festivals from around the world, which involve everything from mountain fires and yoga, to neolithic stones and strawberries...

0 / 31 Fotos

Stonehenge, Wiltshire, UK - Each year, thousands of people flock to watch the sunrise over the prehistoric monument. The crowds dress up, do yoga, and celebrate the longest day of the year.

1 / 31 Fotos

Stonehenge, Wiltshire, UK - The site holds special significance for the Pagan and Druid communities, who perform rituals here at the winter solstice too.

2 / 31 Fotos

Kupala Night, Belarus - Celebrated in many Slavic countries, it is in Belarus that the pagan traditions of Ivan Kupala remain most loyal to their past. Celebrators jump over bonfires as a test of bravery.

3 / 31 Fotos

Kupala Night, Belarus - Girls make wreaths of flowers and release them onto the waters. Searching for fern blossom, night swimming, and flower collecting also form part of the revelry.

4 / 31 Fotos

Solstice in Times Square, New York, USA - The middle of one of the world's busiest pedestrian areas might not seem like a place of zen, but every year on the summer solstice thousands gather here to practice yoga!

5 / 31 Fotos

Yoga in Times Square, New York, USA - The "Mind Over Madness Yoga" sessions are a relatively recent phenomenon that nevertheless seek to celebrate the traditional summer solstice themes of renewal, rejuvenation, and creativity.

6 / 31 Fotos

Inti Raymi, Cusco, Peru - Though this Inca festival usually falls around the Southern Hemisphere's winter solstice, it celebrates the Sun God ("inti" means "sun" in Quechua), and has become associated with the northern summer solstice.

7 / 31 Fotos

Inti Raymi, Cusco, Peru - The celebrations take place at the Fortress of Sacsayhuamán in Cusco, and include bright-colored costumes, music, and the sharing of food.

8 / 31 Fotos

Secret Solstice Festival, Reykjavik, Iceland - As the world's most northern capital city, it's unsurprising that Reykjavik puts on a spectacular range of celebrations on the summer solstice.

9 / 31 Fotos

Secret Solstice Festival, Reykjavik, Iceland - The four-day Secret Solstice Festival, which was first launched in 2014, has locals and foreigners partying hard during the rare 72 hours of sunlight. The lineup this year includes Steve Aoki (pictured), Stormzy, and Slayer, among others.

10 / 31 Fotos

Midnight Sun Game, Alaska, USA - When your baseball pitch is located in the Land of the Midnight Sun, it doesn't matter if your annual baseball game runs late into the night.

11 / 31 Fotos

Midnight Sun Game, Alaska, USA - The game has been played each year since 1906. It starts at 10:30 pm and plays through the night under 100% natural light.

12 / 31 Fotos

Midnight Sun Celebrations, Svalbard, Norway - Norway is famous for its long daylight hours during the summer months, but in the archipelago of Svalbard, the sun doesn't set at all from April to late August.

13 / 31 Fotos

Midnight Sun Celebrations, Svalbard, Norway - Local celebrations of the event are pretty low-key in these Arctic islands, but nothing beats walking on a glacier at midnight and drinking in the red, sunken sun.

14 / 31 Fotos

Midsommar, Singö, Sweden - If you fancy a Nordic island that's a little warmer, Singö offers quiet respite from the riotous solstice parties in Stockholm. Expect flower gardens and maypoles aplenty.

15 / 31 Fotos

Midsommar, Singö, Sweden - Swedes will typically drink flavored Schnapps and munch on boiled potatoes with dill, cured salmon, pickled herring, and most importantly, strawberry cake!

16 / 31 Fotos

Wianki, Poland - "Wianki," which means "wreaths" in English, and is also the name given to Poland's Midsummer celebrations.

17 / 31 Fotos

Wianki, Poland - The festival maintains pagan traditions of fortunetelling and floating wreaths on water, and originally celebrated fertility and the Slavic goddess of love and harvest, Kupala.

18 / 31 Fotos

Jāņi, Latvia - In Latvia, Jāņi is the celebration of Midsummer. The holiday period traditionally sees people flocking to the countryside to pick flowers, search for the mythical fern flower in woods, eat, drink, and stay up all night!

19 / 31 Fotos

Jāņi, Latvia - However, in capital city Riga there are more contemporary takes on the celebration. A festive program is set out on the banks of the Daugava River for revelers to be merry and enjoy.

20 / 31 Fotos

Santa Barbara Summer Solstice Parade, California, USA - The three-day festival, which celebrates the start of summer, apparently originated as a small birthday party for local mime and artist Michael Gonzalez in 1974.

21 / 31 Fotos

Santa Barbara Summer Solstice Parade, California, USA - Over the years, the celebrations became a huge parade and joined forces with the Summer Solstice Music Festival. Today, it is larger than life!

22 / 31 Fotos

Summer Solstice Indigenous Festival, Ottawa, Canada - The summer solstice and Canada's National Indigenous Peoples Day combine to put on an exuberant display of arts, culture, and creativity each year in Ottawa.

23 / 31 Fotos

Summer Solstice Indigenous Festival, Ottawa, Canada - The festival celebrates above all the traditions of the Algonquin people. In 2018, visitors enjoyed culinary and arts and crafts workshops, as well as the vivid Pow Wow dance competition.

24 / 31 Fotos

Saint John's Eve, Spain - On the evening of June 23, towns and cities across Spain celebrate Midsummer, which roughly coincides with the summer solstice. It is widely known as San Juan, but names vary from region to region.

25 / 31 Fotos

Saint John's Eve, Spain - Fireworks are set off, bonfires lit, and special food and drink consumed as revelers go a little crazy and party the night away! A curious pagan tradition in the town of Soria even sees men walking barefoot over hot embers...

26 / 31 Fotos

Solstice Fires, Tyrol, Austria - The Alpine region of Tyrol in Austria takes Midsummer bonfires to a whole other level. Originally a Medieval tradition, the lighting of mountain fires on the summer solstice became an official Austrian UNESCO cultural practice in 2010.

27 / 31 Fotos

Solstice Fires, Tyrol, Austria - After sunset, flames and chaotic celebrations erupt over the mountains of Ellmau, Going, Scheffau and Söll, which partygoers can access by cable cars that run til late.

28 / 31 Fotos

Festa Junina, Brazil - Brazil's June Festival doesn't quite live up to the extravaganza of Carnival, but the month-long celebrations also include vibrant costumes, and local food, dancing, and music.

29 / 31 Fotos

Festa Junina, Brazil - Though the celebrations take place in the Southern Hemisphere, they draw from the European festivals of St. John the Baptist and the summer solstice.

30 / 31 Fotos