An estimated crowd of 30,000 revelers welcomed the summer solstice at the megalithic Stonehenge ruins in Salisbury Plain at dawn Saturday.
Rain and mist did not deter throngs from welcoming the sun rise above the ancient monument, one of Britain's national icons, on the longest day of the year.
At daybreak, at 4:58 a.m. BST, a cheer went up from revelers who gathered at the Heel stone - a pillar at the edge of the stone structure. The English Heritage, which watches over the 5,000-year-old stone circle said the last summer solstice gathering this big was in 2003.
The all-night festivities was relatively peaceful, with only 17 arrests made for public order offenses, police officials say.
The summer solstice is one of the few occasions when the public is allowed access to the stone circle. Members of the English Heritage makes sure people do not climb on or vandalizes the stones.
Stonehenge receives almost a million visitors per year. Welsh mythology and Arthurian legend have given the stones healing and magical attributes. The mythical wizard Merlin was believed to have transported some of them to build Camelot.
In the early 20th century, however, English astronomer Norman Lockyer proved that the north- east axis at Stonehenge aligned with the summer solstice sunrise.
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