Metro celebrates start of summer

As the official start to summer begins today, residents around Metro Moncton have plenty of activities to help them ring in the occasion.

The City of Moncton is holding Aboriginal Day today from noon to 9 p.m. Though unrelated to the solstice, it provides a venue to get out and take in some aspects of a different culture.

Another event today will be the Fête de la Musique at the Moncton Market. The doors open at 4 p.m. and the concert runs until 10 p.m., with a number of performers gracing the venue to share their music with Metro Moncton.

The festival began in France in 1982, and now occurs in over 100 countries on June 21st of each year.

"The first festival was to celebrate the solstice," says cultural co-ordinator with Alliance Française de Moncton Laurène Gibert. "It's the longest day of the year, and this is a great way to celebrate the beginning of summer." Moncton isn't the only city paying tribute to the longest day of the year. The Summer Solstice Celebration Dinner kicks off at Sackville's Live Bait Theatre at 7 p.m. The event, which is in its second year, serves as a fundraiser for the theatre.

"Last year it sold out, and we were taken by surprise. This year it's selling well too," says Jocelyn Pringle, technical and facilities director for Live Bait.

"This serves as our kickoff to the season. We always start shows the first week of July, and things are starting to warm up," she says.

"The event will mainly be a dinner, but there will be some entertainment and previews of upcoming shows. We try to keep the solstice as the theme."

Tickets go for $50, with a $25 tax receipt issued. They can be purchased at the theatre.

The Weather Network shows temperatures today at a high of 16C (61F), with a 70 per cent chance of rain. But despite the weather, Andrew Fazekas sees the solstice as a special time of year.

"It's an astronomical anomaly, and it all has to do with the positioning of the sun," says Fazekas, The Weather Network's astronomy correspondent. "All the planets move in orbits, and the earth takes 365 days to go through one. We're all on the same plane, and it's flat like a pancake," he says.

"Planets rotate on an axis and spin like a top. The earth is tilted 23.5 degrees to the plane of the solar system. At one point, more direct rays hit the earth each year."

The world 'solstice' comes from the Latin derivation, meaning 'sun standing still.' However, the sun doesn't actually stand still, it only appears to. "When we're pointed north we're going toward the sun. And if it's winter we're pointed away from the sun," says Fazekas.

"It's all about the tilt of the axis. That's what gives us seasons. At the moment of the solstice, the sun appears to stand still during and for a few consecutive days before and after," he says. "It appears to rise and set exactly at the same part of the day."

Fazekas says the celebration of the solstice goes "way back to ancient times."

"The power of the sun has influenced us our whole lives. The ancients knew the movement of the sun, the planets and the stars. They used the sun for farming," he says. "People celebrate with huge festivals and bonfires. Now we don't take notice, but it's built into our calendars. School comes out around this time, and family vacations are planned around this time."

"It marks the longest hours of daylight and the shortest hours of night. The summer solstice marks the true beginning of summer."