“Do you ever watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it?”: Sweet Celebration of Summer Solstice
- Ann Bell
- Jun 20
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 20
A cosmic love story, a bowl of petals, a bit of Gatsby…and in Paris, music in the streets!
“Do you ever watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it.” This question, asked and answered in the same breath by Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby, has stuck with me from the first time I read what would become (and remain) my favorite book. For me, Gatsby is the ultimate story of summer, and Daisy is referring to the Summer Solstice of course, which in New York City is today, Friday June 20th. I like to imagine it like a great love affair. The Earth lifts her full face upwards, and the Sun wraps its warmth around her—neither particularly surprised that their mutual gaze says everything that can never be spoken aloud. Fire and longing linger until the very millisecond the Night puts out the light. Well, it’s a nice story anyway. And even if you are like me, someone with a…well, let’s just say a complex relationship with Summer… Solstice is an unmissable moment celebrated by cultures around the world, including La Fête de la Musique in France.
I started living by the rhythms of the universe when I began seriously practicing yoga many years ago. The longest day of the year, the shortest, the equinoxes—each happens once a year, which makes them common and rare at the same time. My personal practice is to take long walks around the time of Solstice and gather leaves and petals of flowers that have fallen to the ground. I take them home and reverently place them in a bronze bowl on one of my altars. I don’t pick any directly from trees or bushes, because the ones strewn about seem to be offerings from the Earth and Sun themselves—blessed fruits of their cosmic romance, ritualized by a mortal girl!
Cultures all over the world have rituals that revolve around Summer Solstice. Sweden has Midsomer with folk music, flower crowns, and dancing around maypoles. (If you prefer to be terrified, you can watch Midsomer the movie.) In England, people gather at Stonehenge to witness the awesome alignment of stones and sun. Or, you might try the Portuguese Festa de São João (the Festival of Saint John) on June 23rd, just after Solstice, where you might be gifted a pot of basil accompanied by a love note. “But what about France?!”...you may be thinking, as we’ve come this far with only a tiny mention. Well, France turns into an open-air symphony every Summer Solstice, with a nationwide celebration of sound, rhythm, and artistic freedom known as La Fête de la Musique.
The sun sets well after 10 p.m., and if you have been to Paris at any time of the year, you likely know that the sky streaked in lavender spritzes and cotton candy pinks serves as the dreamiest backdrop, even on the most unremarkable of days. Stonehenge may have a bunch of big rocks to boast about, but when it comes to true alignment, no place does Solstice energy as poetically as Paris. La Fête de la Musique, founded in 1982 by then Minister of Culture Jack Lang, was born from a simple but transformative idea: “Make music everywhere, and the concert nowhere.” The vision? That both amateur and professional musicians would take to the streets and public spaces, offering free performances to all, removing the barriers between artist and audience.
From the grand boulevards of the Right Bank to the cozy courtyards of the Marais, the city purrs with every imaginable genre. A string quartet might be playing under the arcades of Palais Royal while a reggae band sets up across the way in Saint-Michel. Cafés host impromptu jazz bands...and on a rooftop in Belleville, someone always seems to be gently strumming a guitar, right up until the sun goes down. Daughters dance with fathers along the banks of the Seine. And even the solitary flâneur, strolling across the hallowed cobblestones of Île-Saint-Louis, can’t help but hum a hymn that puts him in mind of the girl he loves like the Earth loves the Sun.
La Fête de la Musique is a party to rival any on Gatsby’s lawn. And just like Jordan, I too “like large parties. They’re so intimate.” You are hereby cordially invited—No RSVP required.
