The winter solstice, the shortest day and longest night of the year, has long inspired celebrations, rituals, and festivals that honor the return of sunlight.
While Christmas often takes center stage in winter, cultures across the globe have developed their own rich customs to mark this powerful moment in the solar calendar.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the solstice typically arrives on December 21 or 22 (December 21 in 2025).
In the Southern Hemisphere, it occurs around June 20 or 21 (June 21 in 2025). Whether through candlelight, feasting, gathering with family, decorating with greenery, or staging lively festivals, communities everywhere embrace traditions that symbolize renewal and the gradual lengthening of days.
Below are 15 captivating winter solstice traditions celebrated across the world.
1. Winter Solstice Lantern Festival — Vancouver, Canada
Vancouver’s Secret Lantern Society hosts an annual festival honoring diverse solstice traditions. Attendees craft handmade lanterns in workshops before joining evening processions across the city.
The night concludes with fire performances and a “Labyrinth of Light,” a meditative maze illuminated by 600 candles. The 2025 celebration falls on Saturday, December 21.
2. Midwinter Day — Antarctica
On June 21, research stations across Antarctica celebrate Midwinter, the region’s most important holiday.
The tradition, dating back to 1898, includes icy plunges, exchanging gifts, special meals, and festive gatherings, a welcome burst of warmth during the harsh polar night.
3. Saturnalia — Rome (Historically)
Ancient Romans honored their god Saturn with Saturnalia, a joyous festival featuring feasts, role reversals, and gift-giving.
Originally celebrated on December 17, it eventually expanded into a weeklong event. While no longer widely practiced, the city of Chester in the UK commemorates it yearly with Roman-costumed parades and decorations inspired by the historic holiday.
4. Saint Lucia Day — Scandinavia
Observed on December 13, Saint Lucia Day merges early solstice rituals with Christian tradition.
Girls dressed in white gowns, red sashes, and candlelit wreaths lead processions through the winter darkness.
The day honors Saint Lucia while echoing ancient customs that celebrated the return of light. Saffron buns, ginger biscuits, and warm glogg are typically enjoyed.
5. Dongzhi Festival — China
Held between December 21 and 23, the Dongzhi Festival is one of China’s oldest seasonal celebrations.
Families gather for a special meal that often includes tang yuan, sweet rice balls symbolizing reunion.
The festival is rooted in agricultural cycles and the balance of yin and yang, marking the moment when daylight begins to grow again.
6. Winter Solstice at Stonehenge — England
Stonehenge aligns with the sun’s movements, and archaeological evidence suggests solstice gatherings took place here thousands of years ago.
Today, visitors flock to the ancient site at dawn after the longest night to watch the sun rise between the stones. For the solstice, guests are allowed close access to the monument—an opportunity not normally available.
7. Shab-e Yalda — Iran
Meaning “birth,” Yalda marks the renewal of light after the longest night. Families gather to read poetry, light candles, and enjoy symbolic foods such as nuts, pomegranates, and watermelon, traditionally believed to protect against winter illness. The celebration traces back to ancient Persian beliefs about the victory of light over darkness.
8. Toji — Japan
Japan’s winter solstice, Toji, features distinctive customs such as eating kabocha squash, one of the few vegetables available historically during winter.
Many people also bathe in hot water infused with yuzu citrus, believed to promote health and relaxation.
Zoos across Japan even offer yuzu baths to capybaras, charming visitors and adding a modern twist to the tradition.
9. Festival of Santo Tomás — Guatemala
In Chichicastenango, the Festival of Santo Tomás blends Catholic traditions with Maya rituals that align with the solstice.
Celebrated for a week leading up to December 21, the festivities include parades, traditional costumes, masks, fireworks, and the dramatic “flying pole dance,” in which performers leap from a 100-foot pole while tied to ropes.
10. Soyal — Hopi Tribe, United States
For the Hopi people of northern Arizona, the solstice marks the Soyal ceremony, a spiritual event welcoming the sun back to the world.
Led by a tribal chief, the rituals include prayers for renewal, storytelling, dances, and the crafting of prayer sticks and kachina dolls. Gifts are also exchanged with children.
11. Burning the Clocks — Brighton, England
This contemporary festival combines fire and symbolism in a coastal solstice celebration. Participants parade through Brighton wearing clock-themed costumes and carrying wooden and paper lanterns.
The lanterns are burned on the beach in a massive bonfire, representing hopes, fears, and wishes released with the passing of the year.
12. Newgrange Solstice Sunrise — Ireland
The ancient Newgrange chamber, built around 3200 BC, is aligned so that sunlight floods its interior at sunrise on days surrounding the winter solstice.
For about 17 minutes, a narrow beam of light illuminates the structure’s inner chamber. Although only a few lottery-selected visitors may enter, many gather outside each year to witness the event.
13. Solstice Illuminations — California Mission Churches, USA
Several mission-era churches in California, built in the 18th and 19th centuries, were constructed to align with the sun on the solstice. At dawn, sunlight streams through openings to illuminate the altar or sacred objects.
These events blend Native American traditions with Catholic practices, and communities now gather annually to observe the striking display.
14. Dongji — South Korea
South Korea’s solstice, Dongji, is celebrated by eating patjuk, a red bean porridge believed to ward off bad spirits and welcome good fortune.
The day is also associated with giving gifts like socks and calendars, reflecting old royal customs. Many Koreans hope for cold weather and snow—signs said to promise an abundant harvest.
15. Montol Festival — Cornwall, England
Launched in 2007, the Montol Festival revives ancient Cornish midwinter customs. In Penzance, celebrants don elaborate costumes and disguises, forming lantern-lit processions known as a “river of fire.”
Music, dancing, and street performances echo traditions in which revelers once wandered the town playing pranks and staging small theatrical acts.
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