Monday December 21st 6:00PM – 10:00PM PST
On Monday December 21st you can join the Secret Lantern Society’s at-home solstice celebration with an interactive Lantern Dance Party, a virtual walk through the Labyrinth of Light, some dark tales of solstice past, live music, headdress making with plants, some astonishing astronomy, and you!
Equinoxes and solstices happen twice each year. The biggest difference between solstice and equinox is the distance between the celestial equator and the sun. The solstices happen when the sun is farthest from the celestial equator. The equinoxes happen when the Sun is directly overhead at the equator and day and night are nearly of equal length. Equinoxes occur on approximately March 21 and Sept. 22, known as Spring Equinox and Autumn Equinox. Solstices happen approximately on June 21 and Dec. 21, known as the Summer Solstice and Winter Solstice, respectively.
The Winter Solstice happens when the sun shines directly with 90 degrees on the Tropic of Cancer and the Northern Hemisphere has the shortest day of the year. In 2020 Universal Time, it will happen at 10:02:12 on December 21st. After the Winter Solstice, the days in the Northern Hemisphere gradually get longer and the nights get shorter. Winter Solstice is celebrated in many places around the world, but it takes special significance in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Iranian cultures. Dongzhi is celebrated in China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Vietnam. “Dongzhi” means “The extreme of Winter”, “Yalda night” is an ancient Iranian festival, an intangible cultural heritage now shared by a majority of West and Central Asian countries, and “Yule or Yuletide” is celebrated in Northern Europe.Here in Vancouver and for the past 27 years, the Secret Lantern Society has organized the Winter Solstice Festival. Join us and celebrate the Winter Solstice this December 21st.