At the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, the hours of daylight are greatest and the hours of nighttime are shortest, with the opposite occurring in the Southern Hemisphere.

This year, the summer solstice occurs at 20:50 Greenwich Mean Time (or 21:50 British Summer Time) on June 20. That's 4:50pm Eastern Daylight Time in the USA.

A solstice occurs when the tilt of the Earth's axis, in either the northern or the southern hemisphere, is most inclined toward the Sun. Earth's maximum axial tilt toward the sun is 23° 26'. This happens twice each year, at which times the sun reaches its highest position in the sky as seen from the north or the south pole.

Summer solstice traditions frequently include feasts and bonfires. In Scandinavia, the Midsummer holiday is celebrated by dancing around a symbolically phallic maypole, feasting on herring and drinking copious amounts of vodka.

Midnight Sun

A midnight sun is a natural phenomenon that occurs in the summer months in northern Alaska and Canada, and other places north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle. It is called the midnight sun because the sun remains visible at the local midnight.

At the time of the summer solstice, the sun is visible for the full 24 hours of the day, given fair weather.