I went to Avebury at sunrise this year, partly to record surround sound. I'm collecting sounds for another 'Bilocation' album: see www.bilocation.co.uk


The Avebury Druids and others perform a ceremony every year at dawn, and they kindly agreed to my putting a 'dummy head' microphone in the centre of their circle, to record it. Arriving at 4 am the light was wonderful, with a light mist on the ground. There were still far too many people but a lot of effort had gone into making things run smoothly.
The atmosphere was relaxed and happy - and the skies clear.

At Greenwich, the solstice day sun rises at 4-40, but inside the Avebury circle it's not visible til 5-07. The Druids (and several other groups) performed their ceremonies at both times.

The orange fluffy thing is my dummy head, for recording surround sound.

 

The day stayed hot and sunny - ending with a spectacular sunset at 9-25. An extra treat was to see the full moon exactly rise opposite it only 20 minutes later. I watched from Windmill Hill, a few miles from Avebury.